Cherry Amore

Cherrybomb is no movie for old men. A 90 minute blitz of bravura imagery, ace music, shop-lifting, joyriding, mischief and misrule – once Mephedrone is banned, the Belfast–set teen drama could turn out to be the legal stimulant de jour for springtime ‘10.

Okay, so the ploy is familiar. Nice-lad Malachy (Rupert Grint) finds himself involved in an escalating battle of wills with best friend Luke (a lightning strike of a performance by Robert Sheehan), over Michelle (Kimberley Nixon), the foxy new girl in town. Still, there’s a twitchy energy (and unexpected darkness) that gives the Daragh Carville-penned film a wired-to-the-moon personality all of its own.
Be warned, though, you may need a lie down afterwards.
“It’s about that time in your life when the outside world, the future really, isn’t very relevant,” explains co-director Lisa Barros D’Sa. “All you worry about is your friends, your social scene – it all takes on such huge importance and intensity. Everything is heightened. Everything is louder, faster.”
“There were a lot of young cast members,” adds Glenn Leyburn, her husband and creative partner-in-crime. “It was our first feature and the crew was pretty young too. There was a definite dynamic: the days were fairly mad – scenes of fighting, partying – lots of physical shooting and hard work. It all felt very happy, exciting and creative, and there wasn’t much in the way of ego. I think all that comes across on screen.”
A few early reviewers have upbraided the film for not taking its supposed postbellum responsibilities seriously enough. True enough, Cherrybomb is not the place to find a sober dissection of the North’s emergence from conflict. According to Lisa, however, if you dig a bit deeper, the home-town resonances are clear.
“We wanted to make a type of film about here that no-one had done before,” she says, “and to come at it from another angle. It’s been interesting reading the reviews, and noticing how some people are getting terribly outraged that you’re not making the type of film they expect from Northern Ireland. Broadly speaking, this is the generation that grew up without the Troubles. It’s something we noticed when talking to teenagers in preparation for the shoot – and you have to remember that was two years ago – that it was almost something that they read about in history books. Their parents would go on about it, but it wasn’t what they wanted to be defined by. When I look at the film I do think it’s about that, individuals finding their own identity.”
Which leads us very nicely to Rupert. Chances are if you’ve heard of the film before now, it would probably be due to the improbable presence of Mr. Grint. His likeably nuanced performance, however, has laid to rest any initial suspicions of gimmicky casting.
“I’d seen him being interviewed and knew there was more to him than you’d maybe think,” says Glenn. “He was into alternative music, liked edgy films, seemed to have a warmth and a nice sense of humour. There was a lot about him that I liked and it was very obvious that he had much more going on than people had a chance to see so far. And that was all just emphasised the first time we met him. He actually had a crack at the accent. He didn’t really have to at that stage, but it was a sign of his commitment. I think he has a great career ahead of him. He’s a really good actor.”
He is also someone with a fanatical global fan-base. A fan-base that, when distribution proved tricky, mobilised on-line (and en-masse) to call for the film to be released.
“We had a really great reaction when we premiered in Berlin,” Glenn reveals, “It was right in the middle of the recession – nothing was selling. This little indie film from Belfast? It was very difficult. The fans doing what they did was just incredible. It kept our profile up, showed there was a fan-base, and sales agents take notice of these things. It was a hugely positive development.”
“We were amazed and gratified by the support,” says Lisa. “They turned up from all over the world at Berlin. Then they came to Belfast when it was shown at last year’s Film Festival. They even organised their own tour of the different locations in the film. You had a load of Rupert Grint fans turning up to spend the afternoon in the Valley Leisure Centre.”
Anxious parents can rest easy. Cherrybomb, actually, is a film that will keep your kids off the street.