Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘Find Me Falling’ transports the audience to the picturesque surroundings of Cyprus, where a washed-out rockstar, John Allman, tries to find meaning in music again. He is preparing for a comeback and has isolated himself to a cliffside house that will allow him the solitude to ponder upon things. Or so he thinks. A few days after moving into the house, he encounters a person jumping off the cliff in front of his house. Turns out that the place is a popular suicide hotspot, and several people in a month, and even a week, arrive there with the intent of losing their lives. John tries to find a way around this problem by sticking up a fence, but eventually, he discovers that the best to save lives is by conversing with people. A man in Australia also had this thought in a similar situation.
John Allman is Loosely Inspired by Don Ritchie
‘Find Me Falling’ is a fictional story written and directed by Stelana Kliris, but its roots are in a real legend. Kliris came up with the idea for the film after reading about an Australian man named Don Ritchie, who lived close to an ocean cliff in Sydney called the Gap. Much like in the movie, this place was known for attracting people to take their lives. Ritchie didn’t remember the first time he saw someone jump to their death, but he knew he couldn’t just sit and watch people die. So, the next time he saw someone on the cliff, he would talk to them and try to convince them to have tea with him at his house. Once there, he would let the person talk their heart out.
He saved hundreds of lives this way, with the official count somewhere close to 200, while Ritchie’s family claims it is close to 400. Many times, the people who had been saved would contact Ritchie and his wife to thank them and update them on the developments in their lives. While it might be difficult to tally the numbers because Ritchie never kept count, it is confirmed that he spent over four decades doing this.
He was recognized for his service to the community. He received awards like the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2006, Citizens of the Year (with his wife) for 2010 by Woollahra Council, and the Local Hero Award for Australia in 2011. Ritchie died in 2012 at 85 years of age, surrounded by loved ones, and left behind a legacy that he will be remembered for in the years to come.
John Allman and Don Ritchie are Completely Different People
When Stelana Kliris read Ritchie’s story, she saw potential in it to explore several facets of life. However, she didn’t want it to be a biography, which means that any similarities between John Allman and Don Ritchie stop at them owning a house close to a cliff and trying to save people from jumping to their deaths. In the movie, John is a rockstar with a complicated past, especially regarding his love life. In real life, Ritchie served in the Royal Australian Navy in WWII, later worked as a life insurance salesman, and shared his life with his wife of fifty years.
What interested Kliris in the story was the possibility of putting a mentally and emotionally vulnerable person in place of someone like Ritchie. What if the man who was supposed to save the people on the cliff was trying to make sense of his own life and purpose? The protagonist being in crisis was the catalyst that Kliris needed, and from there, the character developed into a rockstar, wondering if he should try another comeback or retire. Another thing that the writer-director wanted to focus on through John’s character was the idea of legacy. Is it his music and art that he will leave behind, the people he loves, or the people he saves?
With Harry Connick Jr cast in the role, John’s character received more depth as the Emmy and Grammy-winning actor and musician brought his own perspective to the story. Even though he and John are very different people, he could relate to John feeling the pressure of a comeback or losing his career entirely and dealing with fame while trying to accept that he is not as successful as he used to be. Getting to the heart of the character also allowed Connick Jr to write two songs for the film, both of which play an integral role in the plot and deciding John’s fate.
Read More: Find Me Falling: Exploring All Filming Locations of the Netflix Movie
