Director Maurice O'Brien introduces his IFTA-nominated documentary The Artist & The Wall of Death, which receives its Irish TV premiere on RTÉ One this September - watch it now via RTÉ Player.
The 'Wall of Death' brought the fairgrounds in to the Roaring 1920s before almost disappearing partly due to the danger involved. Riding a motorbike around a tall vertical wall at speed, wearing zero protective equipment – it definitely takes a certain type of nerve and skill to pull it off.
Like many people in Ireland of a certain age it was familiar to me through the cult 1980s film Eat the Peach - the first Irish-produced drama feature made here.
The story of two country dreamers building their own Wall of Death in their back yard, Eat the Peach was a film that made a huge mark on me as a kid.
What I didn’t realise at the time was that it was actually based on the true story of Longford farmers Connie Kiernan and Michael Donoghue.
The sheer mad endeavour - why would anyone want to do that?
That's a question that Glasgow-based artist Stephen Skrynka had been grappling with himself for nearly fifteen years – as he became increasingly obsessed with the Wall himself.
Having been blown away by seeing the Wall in action, Stephen had a dream to make a show that would attract a whole new audience by reinventing this dance with death as a beautiful work of art, a great metaphor for life – going round and round in circles with no safety net.
'Would you die for your art?’ became a question that Stephen was willing to explore in a very visceral way.
Stephen served an apprenticeship under the legendary and terrifying Wall of Death rider Ken Fox. He miserably, and very painfully, failed to master riding the Wall - at which point most people would have simply moved on.
But it’s clear that there is something about this old fairground attraction that gets into the blood.
After stumbling upon the story behind Eat the Peach, Stephen not only tracked down Connie and Michael forty years after their brief brush with fame, but he also convinces them to address the 'unfinished business' that haunted them and build a new Wall of Death with him.
Now truth really was getting stranger than fiction. As filmmakers we know all too well about obsession and the need to make sacrifices to bring passion to life.
But the willingness of Stephen, Connie and Michael to risk life and limb puts that into context.
There was a feeling of going round in circles in more ways than one.
Filmmaker Eddie Costello had first stumbled upon the story and began filming some behind the scenes footage as the Wall began to take shape. He approached producer John Kelleher, who had produced Eat the Peach, and couldn’t quite believe this was happening once again.
This meeting of worlds between a Glaswegian artist and two sixty-something men from Co. Longford provides some of the most heart-warming moments of the film - even if their differing visions for the wall ultimately lead to conflict.
A dramatic falling out between the protagonists of the film meant that after building a new Wall in Longford, the project - and the film production – got put on hold indefinitely.
It was at this point that I took over as director from my very talented pal Ross Whittaker - with nobody quite sure how or if we could actually finish the film.
Stephen was adamant that he was going to build his very own Wall of Death back in Glasgow.
When Covid lockdown confined him to his garden shed, we assumed this was even less likely to happen.
But if anything, Covid was a massive factor in Stephen actually pulling off this mammoth task. With so many people on furlough from work, he was able to build a charismatic team of dedicated volunteers who believed in his vision.
After years of work and determination , in April 2022 Stephen’s Wall was finally erected in a huge old shipbuilding yard on the River Clyde.
Now he just had to ride it.
From the very beginning, the adrenaline buzz of watching someone on the Wall was something we were determined to capture in as cinematic a way as possible for our audience.
Filming Ken Fox - a Wall of Death artiste - pull off astounding tricks on the bike, sitting on the handlebars as it went around the wall - that was one thing.
An old hand, who’s broken too many bones to count, Ken was happy for us to attach super 8 cameras and go pros to the bike as he put on his jaw-dropping show.
But capturing our finale with Stephen was another thing entirely.
On the day of our final shoot, nobody knew – least of all Stephen himself - whether he would be able to pull it off without injuring himself.
So could Stephen finally learn conquer the Wall and put his demons to bed?
You’ll have to see it to find out…
The Artist & The Wall of Death, RTÉ One, Monday, September 4th at 10.35pm - catch up afterwards via RTÉ Player.
