Following on from their superb but sadly little-seen dramatic features, Helen and Mister John, Irish co-directors Joe Lawlor and Christine Molloy take their unique approach to cinema to the next level with Further Beyond. An aptly titled work in every sense, this sui generis piece is by turns an essay film in the tradition of Chris Marker (San Soleil) and Patrick Keiller (London), a documentary, and a quirky drama about loss and exile. There’s moving footage of Lawlor’s late mother whose life is sketched here, riffs on ideas about photography and representation found in Susan Sontag and Walter Benjamin, and a series of cinematic “notes” or tests towards a biopic about the 18th-century Irish adventurer Ambrose O’Higgins (played by Jose Miguel Jimenez) that Lawlor and Molloy may or may not have ever intended to produce for real. Exceedingly playful and intellectually stimulating, Further Beyond is not for lightweights. But for those who care about film-making that pushes against what’s possible – and fundable – in an age of cautious, cookie-cutter comic-book franchises and safe-bet awards bait, this is essential viewing.
