Fly: BASE Jumpers' Healthy Perspective on Life and Death in New Documentary

"We are trying to love life while they are trying to cheat death", observes someone walking a mountain trail as BASE jumpers fly by at incredible speeds.  BASE (which stands for Building, Antennas, Spans, and Earth) jumping has its origins as early as the 1700s but became more mainstream in the 1980s with over two thousand BASE numbers* issued to date.  FLY, a new documentary by Christina Clusiau and Shaul Schwarz (Trophy), looks at some of the individuals and the community behind BASE and wingsuit jumping. The documentary is currently streaming on Hulu after a limited theatrical release and airing on National Geographic.

Through Fly, Clusiau and Schwarz follow three couples who are at various stages of life and BASE jumping.  The first couple is Jimmy and Marta who are instructors of BASE jumping and who are affectionately known as the "Mom and Pop" of BASE jumping. Next are Scotty and his love, Julia, who are married and have a child (she was an attorney who gave it up to BASE jump); and the last are competitive BASE jumpers duo Amber and Espen, whose bond seems to have been strengthened by Amber's injury and recovery. 

While many see BASE jumpers as "adrenaline Junkies", what Fly tries to do is offer a more human side to these adventure seekers.  For Jimmy and Marta, the community is like their family and they "take care" of those around them.  Safety is priority one - well, more for Marta than Jimmy - as safe as one can be when preparing to free fall from a perfectly good, solid structure.  For Scotty and Julia, their mutual love of the sport brought them to their mutual love of each other and eventually some semblance of a "normal" life of marriage and family (it is interesting to watch Julia BASE jump while pregnant).  For Espen and Amber, their love was tested when Amber ended up landing much too hard and breaking her femur and her back before an international competition in which they were supposed to compete.

For these three couples, BASE Jumping is a way of life, and all of them seem to be aware their next jump could be their last.  So why do it, you may ask?  For them, there is also something beautiful in the freedom and the exhilaration of being one with the sky.  There is a sense of peace only they and fellow BASE jumping enthusiasts can understand. 

Clusiau and Schwarz first discovered Marta and Jimmy through another BASE jumper who unfortunately died before they began filming.  Through Marta and Jimmy, they met Espen and Amber and Scotty and Julia, and what struck them most was that these individuals tend to lead nomadic lifestyles while being very grounded in the idea of family and friends.  It was this concept that led them to tell the jumpers' stories and document their lives.  While they do so, they also show the beauty of nature, the sometimes unforgiving terrain, and the openness of soaring through the air.

Fly not only tends to tell the stories of those who choose to live life on the edge, but also their philosophy on death which seems to be one of the healthiest I think I have actually encountered.  Instead of fearing the idea of dying or embracing it, they are simply aware that at some time it will come, and they seem to accept it with a calmness and grace that most human beings don't.  However, Clusiau and Schwarz don't shy away from the danger of the sport or glamorize it in any way.  They show footage of Amber's accident and another jumper's harrowing rescue as he lies bleeding and broken against the side of a cliff which is why the film has an R rating. 

Fly is an eye-opening, candid look at some individuals that most would consider crazy or out of their minds while offering a different viewpoint from those who BASE jump on a regular basis.  And while the various viewpoints are interesting, it still wouldn't make me ever consider doing it.

Grade: B