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Bloomin’ Joyce on Film
By John Hagan
 Sean
Walsh, the writer, director and producer of Bloom, which stars Stephen Rea
as Leopold Bloom and Angeline Ball as Molly, talks to John Hagan. Bloom
was screened in New York on June 10 by The Irish Repertory Theatre. At press
time, its American distribution was still being negotiated.
John Hagan: Most people give up on Ulysses by page eight. What ever possessed
you to make a film of it?
Sean Walsh: For that very reason! I was attracted to the fact that while
Ulysses is recognized as the greatest novel of the 20th century, few people
have ever read it. I wanted to bring the story to a wider audience, and
reveal the humor, and most importantly, the humanity of the novel.
My hope is that anyone who watches it will sympathize with the characters.
More importantly, I hope that they will see a part of themselves reflected
on the screen.
JH: In a previous film of Ulysses made in 1967, its director Joseph Strick
believed that a filmmaker’s duty to great books is to copy them literally.
Does your approach differ?
SW: I believe that the filmmaker should remain faithful to the integrity
of the text, but I also think that you have to be aware of the medium of
film. We begin with a portion of Molly Bloom’s soliloquy and return to the
same point in time at the end of the film. In Joyce’s novel, the soliloquy
only occurs in the last chapter but I felt that this wouldn’t work for the
movie audience.
JH: Bloom is not a big-budget film. How did you manage to attract actors
such as Stephen Rea, Hugh O’Connor and Patrick Bergin?
SW: All of the cast, and indeed crew, were attracted by the nature of
the project, by the script, and also the opportunity to work on an adaptation
of the greatest novel of the 20th century. In terms of direction, my approach
was fairly simple – I surrounded myself with a highly talented and motivated
cast and crew, and I sought their ideas and input at every stage of the
film. Honesty and integrity also played a key part; and the atmosphere on
the set was amazing. I can honestly say that I can’t imagine ever doing
anything as challenging or exhilarating again.
JH: How faithful have you been to Joyce’s Dublin?
SW: It was impossible, because of budget, to re-create all the areas
depicted by Joyce. However, we spent years looking for and securing the
right locations in Dublin that would provide us with the right “feel” and
“look” for the film.
JH: What difficulties did you face in making the movie?
SW: It was all about money. All about raising the five million euros
needed to bring it to the screen. Nobody believed we could actually make
a film of Ulysses.
• For more information on the film, visit
www.ulysses.ie
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