Opening Ulysses
Department of Foreign Affairs and MoLI
A famous opening line
We partnered with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Museum of Literature Ireland to celebrate the impact of James Joyce’s Ulysses around the world for Bloomsday 2021.
Opening Ulysses used just the novel’s famous first line as its source material, weaving voices from Ireland and around the world —from Cyprus to Malawi and Colombia to Japan— as well as contributions from 40 Irish embassies and consulates, into a startling musico-linguistic composition that mirrored the eclectic, unexpected nature of the text.
Context
Filming took place in more than 40 locations across six continents, from Alaska to Abuja, Santiago to Seoul, Canberra to Chicago.
We worked with music composer Sunken Foal (Dunk Murphy) to complete the track.
The film brought home a pair of silver ICADs for Production Craft – Editing single and Production Craft – Music (new score).
“Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed.” – James Joyce, Ulysses
