The Reason I Jump

Naoki Higashida’s acclaimed memoir of teenage autism is given a handsome polish in Jerry Rothwell’s earnest, compassionate documentary.

A different world

For the neurotypical – like you and me – our minds edit the world for us. We pretty much see life in a uniform way, the way that our brains, evolved over millennia, have determined is the best way to survive in our environment. For the neurodivergent – such as those with autism – the brain has not evolved in the same fashion, and it’s harder for the autistic to cope in our universe. In the words of Naoki Higashida, on whose eponymous book this documentary is based, it seems like magic that someone can have a thought and then communicate it to another almost instantaneously. Higashida, who, via the twin techniques of facilitated communication and rapid prompting, ‘wrote’ the book when he was just thirteen. Since then his ‘memoir’ has been translated into more than thirty languages, including an English version written by Keiko Yoshida and her husband David Mitchell.

It’s been a huge success and a film version was perhaps inevitable. It falls, then, to the capable artistry of the veteran documentarian Jerry Rothwell to bring us a handsome adaptation with noble aims. It’s a dream-like piece, in which a photogenic young boy (Jim Fujiwara) skips across various backgrounds set to lyrical music and the reputed words of Higashida, uttered earnestly by the Irish actor Jordan O'Donegan. It’s a symbiotic combination, drawing us into the narrator’s interior domain with poetic clarity. Our own world is based on communication, through speech, facial expression, texting, social media and so forth, channels denied those with autism, in particular those with severe nonverbal autism. For Higashida, when he is confronted by a new sight, he sees the detail before he can piece together the whole picture. Likewise, his memories have no chronological cohesion, being jumbled together in a pattern of random experience. It is a chaotic, emotionally draining place to live in.

Rothwell has elected to introduce five autistic subjects to the story, from Freetown in Sierra Leone, Broadstairs in Kent, Noida in India and two more from Arlington in Virginia. We hear from their parents and watch as they cope in their respective environments, the camera seemingly invisible to them. The most shocking of all is Jestina from Freetown, whose mother Mary talks of the stigma attached to autistic children in her community, who are deemed witches or the offspring of Satan. On the other extreme, we have Amrit Khurana from Noida, who has quite a talent, channelling her worldview into vivid figurative art that has won her a degree of local celebrity. Indeed, some of her images now adorn Indian clothing, as part of the Suta brand. There is little doubt that The Reason I Jump expands our understanding of autism, although it is unlikely to appeal to those not already invested in the subject. The film’s dreamlike quality tends towards the soporific, so the modest running time of 82 minutes is a decided asset.

JAMES CAMERON-WILSON

Featuring  Jim Fujiwara, David Mitchell, Emma Budway, Joss Dear, Jeremy Dear, Amrit Khurana, Aarti Khurana, Benjamin McGann, Jestina Penn-Timity, Mary Penn-Timity, Stevie Lee, Berta McGann, Elizabeth Vosseller, and the voice of Jordan O'Donegan.

Dir Jerry Rothwell, Pro Jeremy Dear, Stevie Lee and Al Morrow, Ex Pro Stewart Le Marechal, Jonny Persey, Peter Webber, Jody Allen, Paul G. Allen, Rocky Collins, Jannat Gargi, Ruth Johnston, Carole Tomko and Lizzie Francke, Ph Ruben Woodin Dechamps, Ed David Charap, Music Nainita Desai, Sound Nick Ryan.

British Film Institute/Ideas Room/MetFilm/Vulcan Prods./Runaway Fridge-Picturehouse Entertainment.
82 mins. USA/UK. 2020. Rel: 18 June 2021. Cert. 12A.