( L - R ) Beale, Mclean
Initially, producer Kamall McLean and writer/director Paul O. Beale got together through plays, the former staging the latter's productions in the United States and the latest local film, Desperate Decisions, developing out of that relationship.
Filming was done over two months in 2005 in Clarendon, Manchester, Port Antonio, St Catherine and St Andrew, although the entire project took three years from conception to final product. The rural focus came out of Beale's roots, as he told The Sunday Gleaner it was not only intended to show something different from the typical Jamaican film, but "I have a big passion about rustic life. I am from deep rural south Manchester".
Apart from the cinematographer, the film crew is all Jamaican, as is the cast, comprising a mixture of new faces such as male and female lead Martin Clarke and Jessica Francis, respectively, with Owen 'Blakka' Ellis, Winston 'Bello' Bell and Rosie Murray. Desperate Decisions producer McLean, who is making his debut, did the casting. He said "instead of acting, I wanted real performances. If the situation suited your life, I wanted to see you in it because it would be more realistic".
He points out that "the older performers are the gel for the project. They actually come together to keep everything tight".
Desperate Decisions runs 120 minutes, the uncut version slated to have 20 minutes more. The original intention was to show it over the Valentine's weekend across three parishes, but there was a problem with venues.
Disbelieving comments
McLean said "I do want to go around the country and showcase it and build a vibe on it before we go to Carib. It is Carib worthy, but there are technical things that have to be sorted out before we get to Carib". And Beale said that a large part of the problem with getting Desperate Decisions into local cinemas is the very uneven split of the take.
At times, at last Saturday's screening at Redbones the Blues Café, there were disbelieving comments about the Standard English dialogue ("People just don't talk like that," one woman said). Beale explained that it was done that way to broaden the potential market. "I have done a lot of research about films and the marketing of films," he said. "One of the things that hurt Harder They Come is it is in patois. They subtitled it, but the market moved away from that. The (Jamaican) diaspora is six million people. Six million people cannot sustain a viable film industry. We need to cross over."
Pleased with audience's response
And Beale points out that all the huge, enduring reggae hits in Europe, from John Holt to Bob Marley and Alton Ellis, are in English.
Beale was very happy with how the audience responded at last Saturday's premiere and their appreciative applause at the end. "For all the years I have been doing stage plays, it is all about the audience," he said, adding "I am sure there are some flaws".
McLean was also very happy with the premiere.
As part of that crossing over, in addition to taking Desperate Decisions to the Jamaican diaspora in the US, McLean plans to submit the film to a festival in Texas and another in Canada. He is already planning his second feature film, The Deportees, which starts and ends in Jamaica but is largely set in the US.
"Hopefully, I will be here in the winter shooting," McLean said.