Jump London (2003) (TV)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Mike Christie

Release Date:

9 September 2003 (UK)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

Having developed from a childhood game, Free Running has been given global recognition due to a series of adverts for Toyota...

Plot Keywords:

Parkour

Cast

Jerome Ben Aoues	...	Himself
Sebastien Foucan	...	Himself
Thierry Lafon	...	Himself / The mayor of Lisses
Robert Pirès	...	Himself
Johann Vigroux	...	Himself
Jason White	...	Himself

Runtime:

UK:60 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Movie Connections:

Featured in James Bond: For Real (2006) (V)

A Great Glimpse of a Great Discipline

From the UK comes the highly-acclaimed television feature "Jump Britain." Explosively introducing London, the UK, and eventually the world to the art of free running, this documentary style production holds audiences captivated with beautiful photography, exclusive locales, and of course breathtaking footage of free running.

The show delves into the history of free running, the sister discipline of parkour, a sort of half-art half-sport that was developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s by parkour's pioneer David Belle. Sebastien Foucan, who trained with David Belle in parkour's early days, later split ways with Belle after disagreement about the discipline's philosophy. And so came "free running," a combination of parkour's fluid movement, mixed with a heavy dose of physical aesthetics including flips, flair, and more.

Jump London delivers viewers a great first glimpse at the disciplines of parkour and free running, though it does a somewhat poor job of differentiating the two, and instead uses "free running" like an English translation of parkour, rather than describing the differences.

Some viewers complain about the amount of interviews and footage about free running itself versus the amount of actual footage of free running in action during Foucan and friends' excursion in London. Some are disappointed by free running being depicted as a physical art or discipline and would rather just see big jumps with no ulterior purpose.

One must understand, however, that for practitioners of the discipline, obstacles are not just obstacles, but are rather metaphors for challenges in life, and that free running and parkour carry with them, inherently, a heavy dose of philosophy not unlike that found in many martial arts.

To truly understand and appreciate Jump London, it is helpful to read up a bit on the discipline beforehand. Sites such as www.urbanfreeflow.com and www.americanparkour.com offer great information about the sports.

In any fashion, Jump London promises an exhilarating visual journey through the physical application of free running, while simultaneously introducing viewers to some of the top names and faces of the discipline today. Jump London is a great watch for anyone who is impressed by the human body's ability to do amazing physical feats.