I came late to Perry Henzell’s The Harder They Come. I’d read about it in books…. picked up the VHS case at TLA in Philly 5 or 6 times in the 80’s, but i always put it back. For some strange reason, i thought I KNEW what the movie was and it just didn’t interest me.
A friend kept BEGGING me to watch it, so i did, and spent the rest of the day wondering what the hell was wrong with me??? Why had i avoided this movie all these years???
It’s strange. The Harder They Come is one of the 10 or 20 greatest films ever made…. made with more passion, heart and energy than any movie i can think of…. yet when i bring it up to people…. people who SHOULD know…. more often than not, they haven’t even seen it!!? when i ask why, it always turns out they are in the exact same place i was…. for some reason they THINK they KNOW what the film is….. they’re wrong.
Grab the deluxe DVD (including the soundtrack) from XENON here at Amazon
This article isn’t really about The Harder They Come, sure it’s not as well known as it should be, but i can’t really consider it Criminally Unknown. For more on the film, click HERE, better yet come to the screening tomorrow at the Egyptian (it’s showing on the second half of the double bill), and see for yourself.
Now on to Perry’s follow up to the Harder They Come, the Criminally Unknown: NO PLACE LIKE HOME.
The film was started almost 30 years ago, but funding became an issue and production was halted, and then re-started several times.
Henzell explains, "Getting ‘No Place Like Home’ made took a long time because I kept running out of money, because the film was made in a very unusual way. That is, as an experiment in realism that combined spontaneous footage with written footage in such a way that one can’t tell the difference. My working method was to shoot the spontaneous footage first and then immediately afterwards, write and shoot the footage that would move the story forward."
"Every time I tried to explain my working method to financiers, the first question was always, "Where is the script?" When they discovered there was no script, eyes glazed over and chequebooks closed, in spite of the fact that I thought the footage I was showing them was the best work I had ever done. Eventually I went completely broke, into debt, to the point where I had to abandon the film business in favour of writing novels in the hills of Jamaica."
In a cruel turn, the negative was lost in September 1987 and Henzell despaired that the film into which he had poured so much of his heart and energy was forever lost. However, in a twist of fate, 30 years after ‘No Place Like Home’ began, the footage turned up in a lab in New York. It was a gift that Henzell doesn’t take for granted, and in between his work on the London
stage opening of ‘The Harder They Come’, he has been overseeing the restoration of ‘No Place Like Home’, with producers Chris Romano and Dave Garonzik.
‘No Place Like Home’ was first premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September this year but will finally return home in December. "I am thrilled that the film will have its Jamaican Premiere at the Flashpoint Film Festival." Henzell declared.
Henzell’s next major production will be putting his novel, ‘Power Game’, on the screen, thus completing the "Jamaican Trilogy" of ‘The Harder They Come’, ‘No Place Like Home’ and ‘Power Game’, which tells the story of the two Jamaicans, the city and the countryside, and the struggle for which spirit will prevail.
The 2006 staging of the annual Flashpoint Film Festival is set for Friday, December 1 – Sunday, December 3 at The Caves, Negril. Firefly Films, The Caves, Island Outpost, JAMPRO, Phase 3, DB&G, Rockers Its Dangerous, Palm Pictures, Final Draft, Digital Edge, On Que Productions, JTB, CVM TV and HYPE TV sponsor the festival.
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Sadly Perry died a day before the premiere in Negril.
JAMAICA.COM
http://www.jamaicans.com/news/events/flashpointperryhenzell122006.shtml
Perry talks about NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Watching the film again this afternoon, it’s just beautiful……..magical….. and totally unique…. it’s no wonder Perry kept running out of money … I’m not even sure it’s a film…. it will sit alongside Playtime, Nashville, Husbands and The Rubber Gun as another impossible movie….another black magic deal with the devil, that simply shouldn’t exist… but thanks to David Garonzik it does, and thanks to the American Cinematheque you can see it on the big screen tomorrow :)
It’s been a long strange road leading up to tomorrows west coast premiere, you’d have to be crazy to be anywhere else.
Perry Henzell has been called "the most important filmmaker to emerge from the Caribbean." His landmark film THE HARDER THEY COME was responsible for introducing Reggae music to the world. With unique insight, visual sense and original thinking, he forever changed the way we look at things. Through his films, stage plays, and novels, the worldwide impact of his work continues to grow. The American Cinematheque salutes the memory of Perry Henzell with an evening dedicated to his feature films.
West Coast Premiere! NO PLACE LIKE HOME, 2006, IFM, 95 min. Dir. Perry Henzell. Following the success of THE HARDER THEY COME, Perry Henzell directed part two of his Jamaican trilogy, which follows New York producer Susan as she ventures into the Jamaican countryside (reversing the country-to-city trajectory of the first film) in search of a runaway actress. After working on the film throughout the 1970s, Henzell discovered that the footage had been lost; fortunately, it was found 30 years later, and now Henzell’s follow-up to his breakthrough classic can be seen on the big screen! With music by Bob Marley & The Wailers, Toots & The Maytals and Peter Tosh and introducing Grace Jones and P.J. Soles.
New 35mm Print! THE HARDER THEY COME, 1972, International Films, 120 min. The world’s first contact with Jamaica and reggae music, before Bob Marley broke big and England fell in love with the sound. Originally released by Roger Corman it became a midnight movie sensation and inspired The Clash’s "The Guns of Brixton". Reggae singer Jimmy Cliff stars as a country boy IVAN who travels to the big city with dreams of recording a song. Turning to a life of crime in desperation Ivan achieves his dream of being famous as his song becomes a big hit and he is Jamaica’s most wanted man. Director Perry Henzell’s masterpiece uses this odyssey as the basis for a forceful study of corruption of all kinds, all set to a fantastic soundtrack, it feels at times like a musical TAXI DRIVER.
Discussion between films with Justine Henzell (Perry’s daughter), producer David Garonzik, P.J. Soles (actress), Arthur Gorson (friend and producer), Roger Steffens (reggae historian) and special surprise guests. Moderated by Wayne Jobson.
http://www.americancinematheque.com/mastercalendar.htm
