The Observer - 04.08.2019

The Observer

04.08.19 31

Peter Webber

‘Making this fi lm

helped me

through a dark

time in my life’

Director Peter Webber was born in

1968 and grew up in west London.

His 2003 feature Girl With a Pearl

Earring , starring Scarlett Johansson

and Colin Firth, received three Oscar

and 10 Bafta nominations. In 2007 ,

he directed Hannibal Rising, a prequel

to Silence of the Lambs. Webber’s new

fi lm Inna de Yard focuses on a group

of veteran reggae artists – including

70s star Ken Boothe and Cedric

Myton from the Congos – revisiting

their glory days in the hills above

Kingston, Jamaica.

What compelled you to make a reggae

documentary?

This fi lm really went back to

passions and enthusiasms I’ve had

since I was a teenager. What really

hooked me into reggae was listening

to the fi rst Clash album and hearing

their cover version of Police and

Thieves. From there, I went to a

record shop in Notting Hill and was

guided to the Junior Murvin original.

That was the beginning of a love

affair with Jamaican music that

continues to this day.

Inna de Yard is the name of a loose

Jamaican reggae collective that tours

together. How did you hear about it?

From a French producer on my

previous fi lm, Pickpockets. He told

me about this small group of reggae

musicians getting together in a

clapboard house outside Kingston.

It’s not really a studio: they just stick

some microphones up there and

everyone comes along with acoustic

instruments. I’ve fi lmed a fair few

recording studios over the years and,

frankly, they’re terrible, antiseptic

spaces, but this is an amazing place

with a big deck overlooking a valley.

A lot of these guys learned to play in

their backyard, so it’s like returning

to their roots – there’s something

pure and joyful about it.

Q&A

COREY NICKOLS

One of the musicians in the fi lm says:

“Some countries have diamonds, some

have oil, we have reggae music.” But of

course it’s no guarantee of wealth ...

Not at all. They all have cautionary

tales about their dealings with

record companies, and most of

these guys are making money from

touring rather than record sales.

But somehow they’ve managed to

keep going, despite run-ins with the

law, being ripped off and suffering

death and disaster in their family

lives. I really responded to their

strength and dignity, because I’d just

been through a trauma myself: my

younger brother had died suddenly,

unexpectedly, during the production.

In retrospect, making this fi lm was

quite a healing process. It helped me

through a dark time in my life.

Reggae tends to be quite male-

dominated. Was it diffi cult fi nding

women to appear in the fi lm?

The issue with this older generation

of musicians is that far fewer women

are still performing in the way that

these guys are. A lot of them have

retired, or are living abroad, so it

took us a while to fi nd someone who

was prepared to work with us. And

Judy [Mowatt , a backing vocalist for

the Wailers], when I fi nally got to

her, was fantastic. Of course, Jamaica

is a very traditional culture, with

a lot of old-fashioned patriarchal

attitudes. But times are changing

and if you have a listen to Jah9

[the 36-year-old Jamaican singer

Janine Cunningham], you can hear

the strength of her voice and the

sharpness of her opinions.

What are your favourite music

documentaries?

In terms of reggae, Rockers and

The Harder They Come are a must

for anybody interested in Jamaican

culture. And there’s a great fi lm just

been reissued called Babylon , about

the English reggae scene. Country

Man is really interesting too.

When you’re not working, how do

you amuse yourself?

Well, I listen to lots of reggae – and

the associated recreational activities.

And travel for me is a great balm,

especially at the moment when

Britain feels like a toxic place to be.

I’m looking forward to starting a

new project out of Britain, especially

if it means I could be away at the

end of October.

What’s in the pipeline?

There’s a few things. One is a sequel

to my Netfl ix fi lm Pickpockets, where

the action moves from Colombia to

Spain. I’m also working on a post-

apocalyptic drama set in the UK,

based on the short story Diary of an

Interesting Year by Helen Simpson.

Interview by Killian Fox

Inna de Yard is released in cinemas

on 30 August. It will premiere at the

Film4 Summer Screen at Somerset

House on 21 August. For more info

visit innadeyard.fi lm

Pop

Mabel’s

new album,

page 40

BELOW

Malory Towers

at the Passenger

Shed, Bristol.

Photograph by

Steve Tanner

Short

Peter Pan

Troubadour White City

theatre, London W12;

until 27 Oct

Although a new theatre

ought to be a cause for

celebration, the Troubadour

is a sterile stadium

(capacity 1,200) in which

Peter Pan’s lost boys have

more reason to feel lost

than usual. Sally Cookson’s

National Th eatre/Bristol

Old Vic collaboration has

fl own in and has Peter,

Wendy and others cruising

10 feet above our heads,

winging their way across

the auditorium. Th e fl ying

is great fun to behold but

the show is less compelling

when their feet touch

the ground. For in spite of

ingenious ideas (possibly

too many, with insuffi cient

editing) and a talented

cast, the production is, at

the moment, incohesive

and sometimes drags.

I do, to some extent,

blame the venue.

At least John P fumojena’s

Peter Pan (above) is a

scintillating Zimbabwean,

wearing a green suit to

trump Babar the elephant’s,

who divertingly tries to get

his stretchy shadow to stick

to his trainers. Whenever he

is on stage, the show comes

alive. Daisy Maywood

projects nicely as Wendy

and Shiv Rabheru’s

attention-seeking Tinker

Bell, in fl ashing shower

cap, boldly speaks his own

language. Kelly Price as

Captain Hook (and Mrs

Darling) is satisfyingly evil

with gold teeth, punky

boots and a touch of

Patti Smith to her singing.

Apparently, Barrie intended

this Mrs Darling/ Hook

doubling – Hook was not

supposed to have been

played by a man. In most

Peter Pan productions,

mothers are seen as soppily

essential but, here, adults

resemble plaintive children

who do not know how to

put on bow ties, let alone

know how to be parents.

Th is production intriguingly

respects Barrie’s view that

mothers are, potentially,

villains. Kate Kellaway

All come to realise they should

have tried to understand why

Rebecca Collingwood ’s deliciously

dislik able  Gwen has been

behaving so badly.

Live musical accompaniment

• performed by the actors and
  pianist Stephanie Hockley – lends
  atmosphere to events but song-and-
  dance numbers do little more than
  pad out the evening, while
  the concluding excerpt
  from A Midsummer
  Night’s Dream feels
  worthy but dull.
  The interactions
  among the girls
  are Blyton’s and
  Rice’s strength:
  simple characters
  in clear situations
  clear with a strong
  moral message:
  enlightened
  education helps
  create “ women that the
  world can lean on”.

Susannah Clapp is away

Dar

wit

boo

Pat

App

this

dou

sup

play

Pet

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ess

res

wh

put

kno

Th is

res

mo

villa

to events but song-and-

bers do little more than

evening, while

ing excerpt

ummer

m feels

dull.

ions

girls

and

gth:

acters

ations

strong

age:

elps

men that the

an on”.

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