Don Letts with music producer and 99 Records founder Ed Bahlman on Singers & Players War of Words (99-002 LP) and Adrian Sherwood’s label: “I mean all the early On-u stuff is absolutely essential.”
In There And Black Again: The Autobiography Of Don Letts (Omnibus Press) we learn the fate of a screenplay (“inspired by Linton Kwesi Johnson’s Five Nights of Bleeding”) bought by the adventurous producer Michael White (Gracie Otto’s The Last Impresario) and its connection to Franco Rosso’s Babylon, co-written with Martin Stellman, starring Brinsley Forde, and a soundtrack put together by Dennis Bovell (The Slits Cut producer). Martin Scorsese, The Punk Rock Movie, Robert De Niro, The King of Comedy, Jerry Lewis, and The Clash shows at Bonds also have a link to Don Letts.
Music producer and 99 Records founder Ed Bahlman met Don Letts at The Roxy 45 years ago and was invited by Bernie Rhodes...
In There And Black Again: The Autobiography Of Don Letts (Omnibus Press) we learn the fate of a screenplay (“inspired by Linton Kwesi Johnson’s Five Nights of Bleeding”) bought by the adventurous producer Michael White (Gracie Otto’s The Last Impresario) and its connection to Franco Rosso’s Babylon, co-written with Martin Stellman, starring Brinsley Forde, and a soundtrack put together by Dennis Bovell (The Slits Cut producer). Martin Scorsese, The Punk Rock Movie, Robert De Niro, The King of Comedy, Jerry Lewis, and The Clash shows at Bonds also have a link to Don Letts.
Music producer and 99 Records founder Ed Bahlman met Don Letts at The Roxy 45 years ago and was invited by Bernie Rhodes...
- 8/9/2022
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Steve McQueen’s Alex Wheatle, co-written with Alastair Siddons, shot by Shabier Kirchner with costumes by Jacqueline Durran is episode 4 of his Small Axe anthology. The title character ((Sheyi Cole) is brought to a prison cell where a foul smell awaits him, courtesy of his bunkmate Simeon (Robbie Gee). Remember how Peter Morgan in the very first scene of the first episode of season one of The Crown, directed by Stephen Daldry, repels us with the blood-spitting King George VI (Jared Harris), only to pull us in even more soon after? McQueen is equally good at provoking visceral reactions from the audience. Franco Rosso’s 1980 Babylon, starring Brinsley Forde with music by Dennis Bovell...
- 12/1/2020
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Two films capture the volatile climate with race relations in Great Britain during the mid-Seventies into the early Eighties: Franco Rosso’s 1980 feature Babylon, starring Brinsley Forde with a score by Dennis Bovell, and Rubika Shah's ever more urgent White Riot (2019 London documentary winner). The latter focuses on the evolution of Rock Against Racism in 1976, which led to the 1978 Victoria Park concert, featuring Steel Pulse, The Clash, Tom Robinson, Jimmy Pursey of Sham 69, and Poly Styrene of X-Ray Spex.
Steve McQueen’s Mangrove, co-written with Alastair Siddons, starring Shaun Parkes, Letitia Wright, and Malachi Kirby, and shot by Shabier Kirchner, is neither of the period, nor a documentary, (as are the respective films mentioned above) and yet, it manages to convey a vivid sense of time, place, and community, plus the critical...
Steve McQueen’s Mangrove, co-written with Alastair Siddons, starring Shaun Parkes, Letitia Wright, and Malachi Kirby, and shot by Shabier Kirchner, is neither of the period, nor a documentary, (as are the respective films mentioned above) and yet, it manages to convey a vivid sense of time, place, and community, plus the critical...
- 9/26/2020
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Franco Rosso's Babylon star Brinsley Forde with Ed Bahlman and Dennis Bovell at Bam: "Let's be honest, a film like that had never been done before. We had The Harder They Come, the films from Jamaica, but nothing from the UK." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
At the Brooklyn Academy of Music before the Us theatrical première of Babylon at BAMcinématek, Brinsley Forde spoke with me about the cast, which includes Trevor Laird, Brian Bovell, Archie Pool, Victor Romero Evans, Stefan Kalipha, Cosmo Laidlaw, Cynthia Powell, T. Bone Wilson, David N. Haynes, Mark Monero, Karl Howman, and Jah Shaka, and the film "presenting a life that the people who were in the movie, extras and all, were totally aware of."
Franco Rosso's powerful feature, with the camerawork of Chris Menges and a score by Dennis Bovell, takes you upfront into a world of survival that remains relevant today. Brinsley brings...
At the Brooklyn Academy of Music before the Us theatrical première of Babylon at BAMcinématek, Brinsley Forde spoke with me about the cast, which includes Trevor Laird, Brian Bovell, Archie Pool, Victor Romero Evans, Stefan Kalipha, Cosmo Laidlaw, Cynthia Powell, T. Bone Wilson, David N. Haynes, Mark Monero, Karl Howman, and Jah Shaka, and the film "presenting a life that the people who were in the movie, extras and all, were totally aware of."
Franco Rosso's powerful feature, with the camerawork of Chris Menges and a score by Dennis Bovell, takes you upfront into a world of survival that remains relevant today. Brinsley brings...
- 3/16/2019
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Frank Rosso's Babylon (1980) is showing February 25 – March 26, 2019 on Mubi in the United Kingdom.Impressions of Franco Rosso’s Babylon (1980) extend past the boundaries of its 95-minute running time. Like the dub remixes its London characters’ lives revolve around, the movie plays with re-establishing identity and our experience of time. A narrative document of young, working class male Jamaican-British Londoners, Babylon doles out atmospheric city scenes of their place in the community: sons, brothers, boyfriends, small-time crooks, laborers, music lovers and producers. Privileging viewers with immersion into an insulated, under-documented immigrant community, the film provides a window into their daily lives. We are thrown into conversations and situations, intimately experiencing their patois their interactions with friends, their constant victimization by a dominantly racist white society, and the massive sound system parties they congregate to. A corrective to the British ignorance and fear of Jamaican immigrants, the film’s emphasis is on...
- 3/13/2019
- MUBI
Music legends Dennis Bovell and Ed Bahlman unite before the preview of Franco Rosso's powerful Babylon with Brinsley Forde at BAMcinématek Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
When I arrived with Ed Bahlman (99 Records) at the Brooklyn Academy of Music for my conversations with Brinsley Forde and Dennis Bovell, two key figures for Franco Rosso's Babylon, co-written with Martin Stellman, produced by Gavrik Losey, and shot by two-time Oscar winner Chris Menges (for Roland Joffé's The Killing Fields and The Mission), Brinsley, Dennis, and Seventy-Seven founder Gabriele Caroti were standing in the lobby. Ed greeted Dennis and they immediately reconnected by sharing memories of The Slits, Viv Albertine's memoir, Chris Blackwell, Adrian Sherwood, Pop Group, Mark Stewart, Public Image Ltd, Bruce Smith, Neneh Cherry, Linton Kwesi Johnson, the Reggae Lounge, and of course, Ari Up and the making of Cut.
Brinsley Forde shines in Franco Rosso's Babylon Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze...
When I arrived with Ed Bahlman (99 Records) at the Brooklyn Academy of Music for my conversations with Brinsley Forde and Dennis Bovell, two key figures for Franco Rosso's Babylon, co-written with Martin Stellman, produced by Gavrik Losey, and shot by two-time Oscar winner Chris Menges (for Roland Joffé's The Killing Fields and The Mission), Brinsley, Dennis, and Seventy-Seven founder Gabriele Caroti were standing in the lobby. Ed greeted Dennis and they immediately reconnected by sharing memories of The Slits, Viv Albertine's memoir, Chris Blackwell, Adrian Sherwood, Pop Group, Mark Stewart, Public Image Ltd, Bruce Smith, Neneh Cherry, Linton Kwesi Johnson, the Reggae Lounge, and of course, Ari Up and the making of Cut.
Brinsley Forde shines in Franco Rosso's Babylon Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze...
- 3/10/2019
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
There’s a scene in Babylon, the 1980 cult classic considered by many to be the great U.K. reggae movie, where a bunch of Brixton residents gather together in a rehearsal space. It’s the meeting place for their up-and-coming sound system, named Ital Lion; one of them has just procured a new dub from a shady record-store owner, who claims to have received the track “straight from the J.” (That’d be Jamaica.) The “harder than steel” tune is going to be their secret weapon when the Lion crew...
- 3/8/2019
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
Director Franco Rosso’s “Babylon” was never released in America. It’s a 1980 film with subtitles and no big-name stars that centers on poor black male youths in London living among neighbors who shout, “Go back to your country!” from their bedroom windows on a regular basis. It’s about their daily resistance to hate and navigating a system that is rigged against them.
The characters speak in Jamaican patois, and there is no white savior. In many ways, it is the antithesis of what mainstream audiences in America were interested in watching at that time. But 39 years later, it finally sees the light of day in U.S. theaters.
Releasing “Babylon” today underscores its unfortunate relevance, though it also makes it vulnerable to criticism shaped by modern society and conversation. For instance, the screenplay by Rosso (who died in 2016) and co-writer Martin Stellman deserves acclaim for highlighting the stories...
The characters speak in Jamaican patois, and there is no white savior. In many ways, it is the antithesis of what mainstream audiences in America were interested in watching at that time. But 39 years later, it finally sees the light of day in U.S. theaters.
Releasing “Babylon” today underscores its unfortunate relevance, though it also makes it vulnerable to criticism shaped by modern society and conversation. For instance, the screenplay by Rosso (who died in 2016) and co-writer Martin Stellman deserves acclaim for highlighting the stories...
- 3/5/2019
- by Candice Frederick
- The Wrap
Franco Rosso’s Thatcher-era drama to premiere theatrically in March.
Nearly 40 years after it premiered in Cannes Critics’ Week, cult British reggae film Babylon will get its first Us release through Kino Lorber Repertory and new boutique distributor Seventy-Seven.
Franco Rosso’s Thatcher-era drama about racial tension and police brutality stars Brinsley Forde, founder of British reggae band Aswad, as a dancehall DJ in south London who battles xenophobia, neighbours, police, and the National Front.
The film was deemed so incendiary that after screenings on the Croisette and the Toronto International Film Festival, top brass at the New York Film Festival passed.
Nearly 40 years after it premiered in Cannes Critics’ Week, cult British reggae film Babylon will get its first Us release through Kino Lorber Repertory and new boutique distributor Seventy-Seven.
Franco Rosso’s Thatcher-era drama about racial tension and police brutality stars Brinsley Forde, founder of British reggae band Aswad, as a dancehall DJ in south London who battles xenophobia, neighbours, police, and the National Front.
The film was deemed so incendiary that after screenings on the Croisette and the Toronto International Film Festival, top brass at the New York Film Festival passed.
- 1/18/2019
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
There can’t be many pairs of hands as safe as Don Letts’s when it comes to music knowledge. A cultural polymath who has been front-and-centre of the music scene for over 40 years – as a musician, DJ, radio presenter, Grammy Award-winning music video and film director. Letts was one of the key figures in the introduction of reggae to the punk movement, working particularly closely with The Clash.
He’s returned to reggae, celebrating his first love with a series of podcasts for Turtle Bay, and in his latest Reggae45 podcast, he has zeroed in on reggae’s place in Jamaican cinema. “With this episode Don takes the term soundtrack from a literal point of view, delving deep into the world of film and how the sound has a parallel connection with the story on the screen.”
The Citizen Kane of Jamaican cinema is Perry Henzell’s 1972 crime thriller...
He’s returned to reggae, celebrating his first love with a series of podcasts for Turtle Bay, and in his latest Reggae45 podcast, he has zeroed in on reggae’s place in Jamaican cinema. “With this episode Don takes the term soundtrack from a literal point of view, delving deep into the world of film and how the sound has a parallel connection with the story on the screen.”
The Citizen Kane of Jamaican cinema is Perry Henzell’s 1972 crime thriller...
- 11/26/2018
- by Cai Ross
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
From Kingston to Lewisham, here are five other must-see reggae movies
The Harder They Come (Dir. Perry Henzell, Jamaica, 1972)
Jamaica's first feature, and the one against which others are measured. The plot – poor country boy seeks fortune in city – is archetypal, but Henzell cleverly turns our admiration for hero Ivan (Jimmy Cliff in incendiary form) into revulsion, as the film shifts through melodrama, comedy and musical into tragedy. Immortal movie moments – "You think the hero can be dead before the last reel?" scoffs Ivan at one point – and a stunning soundtrack led by Cliff's title song make this a five-star classic.
Rockers (Dir. Ted Bafaloukos, Jamaica, 1979)
A "Dreadsploitation" flick that's now a vibrant time capsule of reggae's halcyon days. Drummer Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace plays a hapless muso caught up in Kingston's music wars. The plot's paper thin, but there's a gallery of great cameo appearances – Jacob Miller and Gregory Isaacs...
The Harder They Come (Dir. Perry Henzell, Jamaica, 1972)
Jamaica's first feature, and the one against which others are measured. The plot – poor country boy seeks fortune in city – is archetypal, but Henzell cleverly turns our admiration for hero Ivan (Jimmy Cliff in incendiary form) into revulsion, as the film shifts through melodrama, comedy and musical into tragedy. Immortal movie moments – "You think the hero can be dead before the last reel?" scoffs Ivan at one point – and a stunning soundtrack led by Cliff's title song make this a five-star classic.
Rockers (Dir. Ted Bafaloukos, Jamaica, 1979)
A "Dreadsploitation" flick that's now a vibrant time capsule of reggae's halcyon days. Drummer Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace plays a hapless muso caught up in Kingston's music wars. The plot's paper thin, but there's a gallery of great cameo appearances – Jacob Miller and Gregory Isaacs...
- 4/23/2012
- by Neil Spencer
- The Guardian - Film News
Trailer and clips for Babylon, directed by Franco Rosso (Dread Beat an' Blood), co-written (with Rosso) by Martin Stellman (Quadrophenia; Defence Of The Realm; For Queen And Country), photographed by two-time Oscar winner Chris Menges (The Mission; The Killing Fields) and starring celebrated reggae star and Aswad frontman Brinsley Forde (Here Come The Double Deckers), Karl Howman (Brush Strokes; Mulberry) and Trevor Laird (Doctor Who; Quadrophenia).
The film is available on DVD from Italian distributor Raro Video and UK based Icon Home Entertainment.
Read More
tags: cult film, reggae...
The film is available on DVD from Italian distributor Raro Video and UK based Icon Home Entertainment.
Read More
tags: cult film, reggae...
- 10/5/2008
- by Leigh
- Latemag.com/film
One of the most highly regarded cult British films of the 1980s, Babylon comes to DVD for the first time ever in the UK this October courtesy of Icon Home Entertainment, boasting fully restored and remastered image and audio (personally overseen by Chris Menges) plus Audio Commentaries, Interviews and feature on the restoration.
Directed by Franco Rosso (Dread Beat an' Blood), co-written (with Rosso) by Martin Stellman (Quadrophenia; Defence Of The Realm; For Queen And Country), photographed by two-time Oscar winner Chris Menges (The Mission; The Killing Fields) and starring celebrated reggae star and Aswad frontman Brinsley Forde (Here Come The Double Deckers), Karl Howman (Brush Strokes; Mulberry) and Trevor Laird (Doctor Who; Quadrophenia), Babylon is a raw and incendiary film employing an effective mix of music and social commentary to recount the everyday experiences of a small group of working class black youths living in South London in the early 1980s.
Directed by Franco Rosso (Dread Beat an' Blood), co-written (with Rosso) by Martin Stellman (Quadrophenia; Defence Of The Realm; For Queen And Country), photographed by two-time Oscar winner Chris Menges (The Mission; The Killing Fields) and starring celebrated reggae star and Aswad frontman Brinsley Forde (Here Come The Double Deckers), Karl Howman (Brush Strokes; Mulberry) and Trevor Laird (Doctor Who; Quadrophenia), Babylon is a raw and incendiary film employing an effective mix of music and social commentary to recount the everyday experiences of a small group of working class black youths living in South London in the early 1980s.
- 10/4/2008
- by Leigh
- Latemag.com/film
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