The Jock Club and the Mellon Collie Death of Eugene Nerdlinger

The Jock Club and the Mellon Collie Death of Eugene Nerdlinger is an award-winning short film directed by Anthony Kinsella and produced by Edwin Lee for C13 Pictures.

The film, produced in 1999 is a black comedy, which deals with issues such as unprovoked violence, bullying and loyalty. The films stars Edwin Lee, Shane Brady, Darryl Kinsella, Brian Purcell and Paul Pierce. The film was awarded first place at the prestigious Fresh Film Festival in Limerick, Ireland. The film was also requested to be shown at the Cork Short Film Festival.

= Synopsis =

The protagonist, Eddy (Edwin Lee) is a secondary level student repeating his Leaving Certificate after failing it the previous year. By chance he meets an enigmatic "Jock", Shane (Shane Brady), who invites him to join a gang called the Jock Club, a secret organisation (of three) who attack, bully and torture those who they consider to be nerds. As Ed is being introduced to the other members of the Jock Club, he learns that they have recently kidnapped Eugene Nerdlinger, a nerd from their class and are in the process or torturing him.

Over the course of the afternoon, Ed becomes a member of the Jock Club and joins the club in its violent activities, until he is ordered by Shane to murder Nerdlinger as part of his initiation ritual.

= Characters =

Eddy

Eddy is the newest recruit to the Jock Club. He failed his Leaving Certificate the previous year. Like the other members of the gang he is bitter and displays an affinity for violence. However he refuses to murder Nerdlinger and rebels against Shane and his minions in the final scene. He is a highly intelligent and resourceful character who exploits the weaknesses of and mistrust between the Jock Club for his own advantage. At the end of the film Eddy kills Nerdlinger in cold blood, rejecting the crisis of conscience that he experiences for most of this film. It could be argued that at this point Eddy becomes Nietzsche's Ubermensch, rejecting morality itself for the sake of will. In his voiceover he states that he is still a member of the Jock Club and looking forward to his Leaving Certificate.

Shane

Shane is the leader of the Jock Club who founded it with Purko the previous year. He is by far the dominant member of the group and exerts a strong psychological influence over the other members. The character clearly suffers from Antisocial personality disorder and displays strong sadistic and narcissistic tendencies. Ironically, it is these personality traits which provides most of the films comedy. In fact, it can be argued that Shane is the film's anti-hero. Shane is described by Eddy as being a cross of the "explosiveness of Al Pacino" and the "eccentricity of Tim Burton." It is revealed in the final few scenes that Shane is in fact a former nerd who was involved in the Chess Club, Science Group and Debating Society. It is this insecurity over his past that instills his hatred of nerds. Ironically, Shane Brady was heavily involved in debating and several humanity based societies during his schooling.

Darryl

Darryl was the first recruit to the Jock Club after it was founded by Shane and Purko. He is a character of very low morality and integrity who has joined the Jock Club out of sheer boredom. He idolises Shane and hopes to be his successor as leader of the club. In Eddy's opening voiceover we are told he likes "Rugby union, Football and this he's James Bond" He is shot dead by Shane when he attacks him after finding out he was a former nerd. Darryl Kinsella has worked in several films with Anthony Kinsella, taking the leading role in Higher Level opposite Shane Brady. He has also acted in several other films and stage plays.

Purko

Purko was one of the first member's of the Jock club who co-founded it with Shane. Despite his affinity for violence he is a trustworthy and friendly person. During the film he and Eddy develop a strong friendship. Eddy however kills Purko in the final scene, shooting him several times at "point blank" range. In a scene cut from the films final release his informs Eddy that he is planning to leave the Jock Club to focus on his education. It is also implied that he is the only member of the Jock Club who does not know that Shane plans to murder Nerdlinger. According to Eddy's opening narration, Purko likes "smoking and one day, hopes to be Kurt Cobain" Though never expressly stated in the film, Purko is short for Purcell, the character's (and actor's) surname.

Eugene Nerdlinger

Eugene Nerdlinger is a nerd who is tortured, beaten and killed by the Jock Club throughout the film. As the charactered is largely objectified by the members of the club, we learn very little about his personally. He exists as an anti-thesis to Shane and he is shown to hate jocks just as much as they hate nerds. Even after being rescued by Eddy, he attempts to kill him only to be stopped by a wounded Shane. In a deleted scene we learn that Nerdlinger was lured down to the basement by Shane, under the guise of attending a book appreciation society meeting. He was then hit over the head with a chair by Shane. He is killed in the final moments of the film by Eddy, who expresses little remorse over his actions.

= Trivia =

*Several Hollywood films are referenced in the film, including La Haine, Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs.

* Eddy's initial description of the film's characters is based upon the actors themselves.

*Brian Purcell spent most of the film's production drinking. As a result nearly every appearance he has in the film is drunken.

*Darryl Kinsella actually hit Paul Pierce with a wooden plank during the torture scene half-way through the film. The plank can actually be seen in the finished film breaking over Pierce's chest.

*The film was originally envisioned as a colour production and did not have a voiceover. These stylistic changes were made during the films editing.

*Several pieces of camera equipment are clearly visible throughout the film, most notably in the film's Mexican stand-off.

*Eddy refers to going for a "Dack". A sign painted on the window can be seen to read "Daxville". "Dack" was a slang word for cigarette around the time of the production and the basement was formerly used as a smoking area for senior students.

*Eddy and Shane both use a Berretta 92F in the film.

*Every character in the film is shot at least once. Shane, Nerdlinger Purcell are shot by Eddy. Darryl and Nerdlinger are shot by Shane. Eddy is shot by Nerdlinger.

*The word melancholy is misspelled in the title. Initially the film was to be called The Jock Club but "the Mellon Collie Death of Eugene Nerdlinger" was added to the credit sequence at the last minute during edited. The producers did not know how to spell melancholy and under pressure to have the film finished on time, referenced it from The Smashing Pumpkins album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Whenever the film was mentioned in newspapers following its success, it was with the use of the phrase sic.

*A sequel have been planned several time by the producers. Possible sequels included "The Jock Club and the Mellon Collie Death of Everyone" which was set immediately after the events of the first film, and involved Shane, Eddy and Shane's increasingly unstable girlfriend disposing of the evidence. In 2002 "The Jock Club 2: Profit Motivated Sequel" was written. It was set several years after the events of the first film, and detailed the Jock Club massive growth into a city-wide organisation. Eddy had become the more homicidal of the pair while Shane became a much more pensive character. The film was set around Eddy's plan for murder on a massive scale, inspired by the Michael Stone attack on Milltown Cemetery, while Shane set out to bring the Jocks and the Nerds together in peace.

External links

* [http://freshfilmfestival.net Fresh Film Festival]
* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8492019819140235076 The Jock Club and the Mellon Collie Death of Eugene Nerdlinger]