Roger Guenveur Smith talks 'Better Mus' Come'

Erin Hansen, Gleaner Writer

Director and cinematographer Storm Saulter's debut feature-length film, Better Mus' Come, a fictional story about the trials and tribulations of a young, Jamaican man named 'Ricky', who finds himself engulfed by the rip-tide of Cold War-era political conflict, has roused more then a stir from the public.

In the spirit of celebration, American actor Roger Guenveur Smith who has worked with groundbreaking directors such as Spike Lee and Steven Soderbergh, and plays the part of the 'Prime Minister' in the film, returned to Jamaica for the film's premiere earlier this week. He took a moment to speak with The Gleaner about his method in approaching his character, emphasising that it is a fictional representation.

Smith noted that in the film, "We give an impression of an idea and the idea is that this character is an idealist who is tortured by the reality of what the price of idealism is."

He continued by saying that the film's controversial topic connects with "a very fertile period in history, where the Cold War is being fought by proxy". Once a history and cultural studies student, Smith felt inspired by the topic.

Smith, who is a serial visitor to the island, secured his footing in Jamaican cultural arts long before Saulter could hold a camera or even say the word. He recollected his first experience in Jamaica.

Smith had come as a student intrigued by the culture of reggae music.

"I went straight from the Kingston airport to Tuff Gong studios where there was a guy named Bob Marley recording an album called Survival and doing a song called Africa Unite when I walked into the studio. In a spiritual sense, I haven't left," Smith explained.

Budding artist

A close friend to Saulter's parents, Smith watched as the young director-to-be grew into a budding artist.

"I became exposed to Storm as one of these kids running around the family restaurant out there on the west-end road in Negril. When he went to film school in LA (Los Angeles), where I live, we crossed paths as artists."

The two have now come together, many years later, to collaborate on Better Mus' Come in which Smith plays a charismatic leader, able to invoke strong sentiment in his followers, a personality trait that Saulter himself embodied daily on the set of the film in which he wrote, directed, edited and filmed.

Smith observed his character as "a man of some charisma who has to inspire  people in both intimate settings and large-scale settings as well." In relaying his first day on set, Smith said, "It was a great challenge because the first thing that I shot was a huge rally. I had to make sure that these folks believed in me, and I suppose how I did that was in believing in them and trusting them."

Smith's arrival on set confirmed that the Sandy Park community, in which the film was shot, had become closely knit with the cast and crew. In often overlapping ways too. In some instances, the community members became crew members with emerging leadership positions.

"When I came in, it was obvious that Storm had a great relationship with the environment," said Smith.

Smith, who has a knack for pointing out the ironic, experienced first-hand, how difficult it is to lead on his own project, Who Killed Bob Marley, an attempted narrative feature about an American poet who comes to read his work at the Calabash Festival with the intention of killing himself by jumping off Lover's Leap.

During an attempt to shoot a scene in which the main character jumps from the cliff and his hat floats out to sea, Smith was pulled under by a riptide and began to drown. His cinematographer miraculously came to his rescue on an abandoned surfboard, all while the camera continued to capture the shocking incident.

The project was later turned into a live performance with video projection of the footage and has been shown in Los Angeles, New York and at the Calabash Literary Festival here in Jamaica.

Smith is presently working on his next project, Juan and John, about "two black men with the same name, who got into baseball's most notorious fight in 1965", and later became great friends. He has also just finished a film called MOOZ-Lum from young director Quasim Basir and a film called Son of No One with Al Pacino and Tatum Channing.