After three members of a BASE jumping community (where jumpers jump from mountains) die, someone asks, “What is this stupid thing they’re doing?” One of the jumpers we followed for seven years says, “You jump and you fall. But when you jump in a wingsuit, you fly.” And then he adds the existential question, “Is it okay to take risks for fun?”
The documentary “Fly” takes us into the world of BASE jumpers – people who jump from very high places. It is full of stunning images of some of the most beautiful mountains and canyons in the world and GoPro footage that takes us through the air with the jumpers. Sometimes it is exciting and sometimes it is horrifying to see and hear terrible accidents.
BASE stands for the four categories of places to jump from: buildings, antennas, bridges, and the Earth (cliffs). The people featured in this documentary jump from cliffs or mountain ledges in some of the most beautiful places on Earth, including the Alps, Korea, and Moab, Utah. For these people, the entire world is divided into just two categories: places to jump from and everywhere else. They are almost as happy finding new and attractive jump spots, which they call “exits,” as they are jumping from them.
When it comes to people, they’re almost as binary as anyone else. There are BASE jumpers and everyone else. Those in the first category clearly don’t want to have lives like “everyone else” with school, work, and kids. It’s no coincidence that every spouse we know is married to someone from a different country. The jumping community is small, and the most important thing they have in common isn’t culture or language, but a love of the adrenaline rush of flying like a bird and landing safely — so much so that they’re willing to risk their lives.
Jimmy and Marta are the heart of the BASE jumping community. Enthusiastic Jimmy tells us that he is the only person who married the woman who taught him to BASE jump. He fell in love with Marta, originally from Brazil, as he fell in love with jumping, and together they founded a company that provides equipment and lessons. They host an annual party that is like a jumper’s version of Burning Man. Jimmy is especially proud of having found a new and especially exciting “exit” point in Moab, which gives him the right to name it. He calls it “Dragon’s Nest.” At the annual party, they take a group photo, explicitly acknowledging that some of the people in the photo will die in jumping accidents before the next gathering.
Scotty and Julia are another American/Brazilian couple and they also teach BASE jumping. Scotty was in the military and had some tough experiences, but he found purpose in jumping. He says he has jumped at least once a week for nine years. Julia left her job as a lawyer to pursue jumping full-time.
Espen, who is Norwegian, and Amber, from the UK, are professional competitive divers. As we learn in the film, while divers were banned a few years ago, it is now a recognised sport and was even featured in the 2020 Super Bowl halftime show. Espen and Amber don’t just jump, they perform a coordinated routine like synchronised swimming in the air.
“Fly” goes a little further in acknowledging the risks and responsibility or lack thereof than the recent “Skywalkers: A Love Story,” but perhaps not far enough. BASE jumpers admit their sport is “selfish” and say they understand the risks. Some even know it’s the people left behind who experience the pain of loss. We see the impact on one member of a couple when the other is seriously injured. She wonders if they’ll still be in a relationship if she can’t keep jumping. And he wonders if it would be easier for him to keep jumping if she had died.
Body cameras and microphones show us spectacular beauty and jumps that literally defy death. Yet they also allow us to see and hear what happens when things go horribly wrong, and there can be a disconcerting disconnect between our sense of dismay and the more stoic reactions of the other jumpers. The filmmakers ask two of their protagonists what they want people watching the film to know in case they are no longer alive when they see it. One is willing to answer. His response is heartbreakingly moving. His choice to acknowledge the preciousness of each moment is not for everyone, but “Fly” can help us appreciate the urgency of finding our own.
Now on Nat Geo.