Ian Darling: Suzy and the Simple Man

By Travis Johnson

Suzy and Jon Muir live a simple life on their farm in the Grampians. They exist off the grid, growing their own food and contending with the various perils that the natural world throws at them, including bushfires, insect invasions and terrible weather, with the determination and hard work that saw Suzy build her own house at the age of 20 and Jon summit Mt Everest and explore both poles.

Documentarian Ian Darling (Paul Kelly: Stories of Me), a longtime friend of the Muirs, saw the potential for an interesting film about the ground-level realities of sustainable, subsistence living. However, he got more than be bargained for when Jon and Suzy were forced to face a different kind of challenge: a potentially deadly illness.

What was the genesis of the project? 

I was walking across the Tirari Desert about 10 years ago with Jon, and we were discussing how simply he and Suzy were living, and their hopes for increasingly living sustainably on their property ‘Inanna’. The notion of living off-the-land and off-the-grid was relatively new to me, and it seemed like a fascinating premise for a film. I always like the idea of putting my own journey of discovery on film. We all liked the idea of documenting their progress and decided to proceed together as a collaboration of directors.

Did you have an idea of the potential shape of the film going in, or did you want it to develop organically?

Initially we thought that we would film over 12 months, capturing the four distinct seasons on their property and in their garden. Soon we saw that the film needed more time in order to capture the evolution of their garden and levels of sustainability. We initially decided to extend filming another year – and then we simply had no time limit on it as new story lines emerged.  Rather than bringing an external camera team down each month, we also realised that the best way to capture all of the activity was for Suzy and Jon to film most of the action themselves. After eight years, the film was finally finished.

What were some of the technical challenges you faced in making the film?

We had an old Sony HDV and this was the single camera used in the shoot. After a series of test shoots, we decided that the best style was to make it feel as observational as possible, and to primarily put the camera on sticks and shoot a scene as if the camera wasn’t there. We decided not to make it a ‘talk to camera’ kind of film, preferring to let the natural activity and conversations dictate the narrative of the film. We also needed time for Suzy to feel comfortable operating the camera, as she was a relative novice here – whilst Jon has prior experience. Suzy rapidly became comfortable filming, with some gentle guidance from Jon together with Simon Smith, our additional camera operator. Our key technical challenge was capturing the sound, as we weren’t using a professional sound operator. We primarily used the mic on the camera, with a long cord for capturing dialogue. In order to capture the huge soundscape of the Australian bush, Suzy and Jon made additional recordings with the Zoom sound recorder, in many different locations, over different times of the day. The sound mix was a huge task, and for audiences seeing this film on the big screen the natural ambient sound we captured is one of the most rewarding parts of this documentary experience.

Was there ever a temptation to or conversation about abandoning the film once Suzy became ill?

Warning – spoiler alert. There was indeed a conversation about abandoning the film once Suzy became ill, and this was an  ongoing conversation. Initially we weren’t sure if this would become a part of the film. Suzy decided to make a personal video diary of her experience with cancer right from the initial discovery. It was several months into this process before we even realised the diaries existed. Over time Suzy shared these diaries with us, and felt comfortable with them being used in the film, making the cancer a key part of the story. We stopped shooting when Suzy and Jon returned from their sailing trip when the cancer was found to be spreading, so Suzy could put all of her energies into getting well. At this stage we were uncertain the film would go ahead and after putting the film on hold for over two years, we revisited it earlier this year and decided to press ahead. We sent a rough cut version to Sydney Film Festival and MIFF, and the rest is history.

How have audiences reacted to the film so far?

The film has only screened at the Sydney Film Festival so far and the reaction has been extraordinary. People love the simplicity of this gentle story and the way we immerse the audience into this beautiful natural landscape. They loved the honesty of the characters, and the way they could relate to so many elements of this environmental love story. The audience wrestled with many of the elements of the story, and the film enables audiences to contemplate how they would react or live under such circumstances, without being preached to on any level. We were thrilled that so many people who saw it said the film stayed with them for days.

What’s next for each of you?

We hope to take this film to the US and Europe in 2017, as well as rolling it out across Australia, especially in the regions. In terms of new projects, I am in development for two feature documentary projects, and Jon and Suzy are dreaming up their next big adventure together. But at the moment we are primarily focused on the joy of sharing this new film with audiences, and can’t wait to experience the reaction at our screenings at MIFF.

Suzy and the Simple Man is screening at the Melbourne International Film Festival.