By: Ryan Tuchow
July fifth, the third day of the festival, begins with the explosive exploration of how, in the midst of an unparalleled natural disaster, the unnatural strength of the human spirit cannot just emerge, but persevere. The first feature length live scipt read took place, and the story read was that of Fire Mountain. It’s a 107 page screenplay written by Anthony Salamon, Ronnie S. Riskalla, and Jeremy Span. The writers are Australian, and they made frequent trips to Iceland while researching this story which is based on real events. In January of 1973 a fissure opened up and the Eldfell (which according to the script, the word Eldfell, when translated, means “Fire Mountain”) erupted spewing lava and emitting massive clouds of ash over a population of close to 5000 people in a nearby town.
Many of the same actors who were a part of the live script reads on Tuesday were present for the reading of the first of the three selections for ReelHeART’s Feature Screenplay competition. It competes for either first, second, or third place.
ReelHeART casts actors and gets the writers scripts read so that they can get a better idea of how their words sound when someone brings it to life. ReelHeART is a “mentoring festival” which means it believes in the importance of not just showing off the writer’s creation, but in helping them to improve it.
The entire performance was filmed and posted onto the ReelHeART YouTube channel.
Their goal in telling this story, as they explained in a statement on the ReelHeART website “…was in finding ways to celebrate the human spirit at times of tragedy and being able to share that story.”
The script begins with the presentation of a picturesque view of Iceland, a shipping boat and its close-knit crew. The actors fall into the roles which they’ve rehearsed in anticipation of this performance. They read in the tight space of the classroom at 321 Bloor St. In rows they turn to each other, some of them taking on Icelandic accents, others adopting a Yankee dialect.
A world is built in vivid colour through the relations between people and during a friendly competition. But the peace and joy of everyday life is tainted by incoming weather reports that warn ships away. But one of the fishing crews,
There is problems in the households of one of the captains, and these moments of touching humanity accentuate the drama of the incoming weather that is approaching. And the true danger, the real storm, it turns out, is not just outside, but within the homes and hearts of everyone in the story.
The ash cloud of the storm brings darkness, and when lava and balls of fire crash down on the town, surprising and powerful sound effects carry audience members to the volcano site, and the “eerie red glow” is visible in the mind’s eye of everyone listening to the actors. And when a scientist who studies the weather says “If only you could see what I’m seeing,” because the actors brings the words to life, the audience actually can.
It’s a picture of a town falling apart because of the chaos that ruptures it. People who have lived their whole lives on the island are forced to confront nature itself in order to protect their country, and the only home some of them have ever known.
One line in the script says that in the battle of man vs nature, nature always wins. But the script, and the actors of performance, show how mighty a force the human spirit can be.
And the captains of the fishing boats are confronted with an ultimate choice, they have to sacrifice their boats in order to build pipes that will flow the ice-cold water onto the Lava. They give up everything they have just for the chance at saving the island.
A few builders choose to stay, but the plan, a risky gambit, is a hard-sell for many who refuse to fight a volcano.
One of the captains tells his wife how he has to fight to save the island because no one else will. And the love and hope and belief in the future shines through in the emotional farewells from fisherman who speak to loved ones they might never see again.
All the while the lava slides down the volcano. And the dark, desperate parts of some people, their fear and selfishness become clear as they try to look after themselves, but for others, this crisis gives them the chance to become more than they are, to evolve from fishermen into heroes. It’s a testament to the importance of cooperation, and how even the most dangerous, overpowering elements that nature can thrust at the human race, is not enough to overcome the resilience of humanity.
But through the acts of heroism, danger and the presence of death invades, and when a body is discovered under ash and the remnants of a crumbling building, the true danger of the onslaught of the oncoming lava, and the overhanging ash, is given a truly human cost. And when a group is trapped together in a pharmacy the idea that in a conflict there is no us or them becomes an important point of the piece, which is reinforced by a captain saying that because a man who died was an islander, that he was, of course, was one of them.
And nature, a persistent force, constantly looms, a dark ash cloud metaphoric for the darkness that now engulfs their lives, covers everything and begins to seep into everything, making its way into people, invading them just like their heroism which might never be known outside of such a cataclysmic catastrophe.
Rivals have to unite, and when the islanders lose the ability to communicate with the mainland, their isolation pushes them to new degrees of strength, drawing on the love of their home, and their ineffable endurance.
The mayor of the town, who begins as a person without hope, helps keep people together, and who is constantly trying to think of how the thousands of people will move forward after this. And all the while the scientist works toward solutions, communicating with islanders and offering hope when the world seems to have turned against everyone.
And this mountain of fire brings out bravery not just in humans, but ends up burying the helpful and brave dog Stella under its torrent of ash, after she sacrifices herself to warn the humans about approaching lava.
Layers of character are revealed overtime. An American in Iceland is revealed to be a draft-dodger, whose courage holds when faced with the volcano. And this screenplay is a piece that believes in the redemption of the human condition, and the idea that anyone can be a hero.
The mayor speaks to the town espousing the value of hope, but is quick to give up those who stayed to fight the volcano up for dead. However, families never give up on the ones they love.
And when the sky clears after the volcano and its lava streams are deterred, one realizes that the hope that might have faltered, was always there, in the hearts and souls of the islanders who wouldn’t abandon their homes.
The story then picks up a year later, life has returned to normal, and now love finds its place in this world which might never have existed if not for the heroes who saved the island.
The script ends with the words that islanders did not just endure the devastation of a volcanic eruption, but triumphed over it. And now, decades later, because of the few who stayed to fight, the island prospers.
Fire Mountain is the sort of script that ReelHeART champions and works to celebrate through their efforts to have a live cast to read through and perform the screenplay. It is a story with real heart, and gives everyone who witnesses the story, a deeper look into the possibility of good that all of humanity is capable of.