The colourful life of the doyen of Sinhala cinema
Dr. Lester James Peries - a legendary film maker who
revolutionised Sinhala cinema
By Indeewara Thilakarathne and Ranga Chandrarathne
[email protected]
It would have been fortuitous to declare when Lester James Peries was
born on April 5, 1919, exactly 89 year ago that the child would ever
become the foremost filmmaker of Sinhala cinema.
As he was born and bred in a Roman Catholic family, his early part of
childhood and much of his adolescent and youth were greatly influenced
by Western way of life. Lester had siblings Erica, Ivan and Noel.
Lester was a typical Christian household. Lester’s family lived in
Dehiwala spoke only in English at home.
Lester James Peries’s only mode of contact with the Sinhala culture
and the village life which subsequently had an abiding influence on his
life and work was through his paternal grandmother who spoke only in
Sinhala.
Dr. James Peries, Lester’s father, studied medicine in Scotland and
his mother Anne Gertrude Winifred Jayasuriya was the first girl to pass
the Senior Cambridge examination at St. Bridget’s Convent, for which the
school gave a half-a-day holiday.
A little detail of his parents; his father being a kind and reserved
person with interest in horses and cricket who was responsible for
Lester’s obsession with cricket and mother, a domineering personality,
indicate a kind of childhood that Lester enjoyed in Sri Lanka before
taking wing to UK on his mother’s insistence to join his brother Ivan, a
painter.
Although Lester’s father presented him with an 8mm, Kodasco
projector, his interest in cinema was more or less confined to watching
English films with his brother Ivan. At St. Peter’s College, Lester’s
favourite subject was English.
His formal school education, however, came to a abrupt halt at the
age of 17 due to two reasons; the priests insistence that Lester should
take up cloths and his parent’s pressure that he should pursue a career.
Career as a Journalist
His first breakthrough as a budding writer came when he contributed
to the Blue Pages of the Daily News which was a supplement on art. It
was a supplement which moulded most of the young writers of the day
including Alfreda de Silva, Mervin de Silva, J. B de Alwis, Tarzie
Vittachi and Harrison Pieris.
In 1939 Lester began to write to the Times of Ceylon which was edited
by an Indian, Frank Moraes, the first non-English editor of the
newspaper. In addition, he also reviewed books on a weekly show Radio
Bookshelf at Radio Ceylon. Subsequently all those reviews were
published.
For a brief period Lester was involved in a theatre group known as
the Drama Circle which regularly produced European plays. The other
members of the group include Sali Parakrama, Sita Jayawardena, Osmond
Jayaratne and Ananda Tissa de Alwis.
Two mad Indians in London
Lester who took wing to London on his mother’s insistence, stayed in
the spacious flat of his younger brother Ivan who went to UK on a
scholarship. Ivan who was a prolific painter made almost 1000 paintings
and was a protegee of Martin Russell, a collector who bought most of
Ivan’s paintings.
Lionel Wendt who bought Ivan’s painting Homage to El Greco (1941)
opened up a vista for both Ivan and Lester of the village life through
his images of Sri Lankan villages and of village folk. They would have
led quite a rebellious life that Lester and Ivan were referred to as Two
mad Indians in London.
However significant development that took place before Lester left
Sri Lanka in 1947 was that the Franck Moraes, then editor of the Times
of Ceylon, requested Lester to write a weekly piece titled Letter on the
Art from London. Subsequently Lester stopped the column and joined the
Times of Ceylon London office as a full-time reporter and feature
writer.
As the amateur film clubs came into being in UK, Lester’s interest in
cinema grew leading to the eventual meeting of Sri Lankans with similar
interest. Perhaps, his meeting with Herword Jansz was important as Jansz
insisted Lester on making a film.
The result was the birth of series of experimental films including A
Sinhalese Dance, `Soliloquy` (1949), a short film which won the Mini
Cinema Cup for technical proficiency and `Farewell to Childhood` won the
Best Film Awards in the UK.
One of the turning points in Dr. Lester James Peries life was his
encounter with the distinguish English documentary filmmaker Ralph
Keene, then head of the Government Film Unit (GFU)of Ceylon in 1952 in
London on an assignment given to him by the Editor John Hockin.
This prompted Lester to return to Sri Lanka and he took up duties at
GFU as the assistant to the chief producer, Ralph Keene. It was those
formative years and the training Lester had at GFU which laid the firm
foundation for a future filmmaker.
Before he left GFU to commence shooting of ‘Rekawa’ with newly formed
Chitra Lanka Limited in 1955, he co-produced with Keeene two major
documentaries, Heritage of Lanka and Nelungama. His other works at the
GFU include `Conquest in the Dry Zone`, a documentary on controlling
malaria and `Be Safe or Be Sorry`, a witty study on errant motorists.
Subsequently Lester’s colleagues at GFU William Blake, legendary
cameraman, Titus Thotawatte resigned from the GFU and joined Lester in
his production of ‘Rekawa’ (The Line of Destiny) in 1956.
‘Rekawa’ was a watershed in the annals of Sinhala films on many
accounts though it was not a commercial success. It was the first
artistic film and a daring effort that revolutionised Sinhala cinema by
taking the camera out of the studios and into the day light.
One of the significant contributions that it made to cinema was to
break the formula films with triangular love story.
It truly reflects the life in Sri Lankan village. Among other things,
it marked Sri Lanka on the international arena of films when ‘Rekawa’
was shown at the tenth Anniversary of Cannes festival in 1956.
In France, Dr. Lester James Peries met Sumitra Gunawardena, his
future partner in life. Subsequently Dr. Lester James Peries married
Sumitra on June 19th 1964 while working on ‘Sandheshaya’ (1960).
Perhaps one of the most influential works of Dr. Lester James Peries
was ‘Nidhanaya’ (The Treasure in 1970) which is considered as one of the
best films in world cinema. ‘Nidhanaya’ which is, perhaps, the pinnacle
of Dr. Lester James Peries’s trailblazing career shot him to universal
fame among the legendary filmmakers such as Satyajith Ray and Akhira
Kurasawa.
“Fortunately we limited the characters in the early sessions, to a
minimum of five. That was the bachelor Willie Abeynaike (Gamini Fonseka),
the girl with birth marks (Malani Fonseka), the sister who played a very
minor role (Trilicia Gunawardene), the friend who is a businessman and a
man servant who is fairly important.
While working on the story and then shooting the film I didn’t
realise that drama was going to be played out entirely between two
people. If you see the film today it is mainly Gamini and Malani in
about 70 per cent of the film.
The film and the narrative are driven by Willie Abeynayaike. Malani
was the ideal foil,” stated Dr. Lester James Peries in his biography
‘Lester by Lester’ as told to Kumar de Silva.
In retrospect, Sinhala cinema grew leap and bounds following the
seminal production of ‘Rekawa’. Dr. Lester James Peries is fortunate to
see the flourishing of the seed he sowed in generation of filmmakers
including Wasantha Obeysekara, Dharmasena Pathiraja, Dharmasiri
Bandaranayake, Asoka Handagama, Vimukthi Jayasundara, Enoka Satyangani,
Prassanna Vithanage and Sathyajith Maitipe. However the greatest tribute
that contemporary filmmakers can pay to the doyen of Sinhala cinema is
to strive to produce artistic films of lasting value rather than keeping
the filmgoers in darkness for two or three hours.
Awards
Sri Lankabhimanya The highest Civil Honour of Sri Lanka (2007).
Recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 31st International
Film Festival of India (2000). Commandeur (commander) in the Ordre des
Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters) from the French
government (1997)
Diploma of Honour Venice Film Festival for the film “Conquest In the
Dry Zone” (1954) The Mini Cinema Cup for the short film “Soliloquy” for
displaying the best technical proficiency by the Institute of Amateur
and Experimental Film Makers Festival -Great Britain (1951)
Amateur Cine World Silver Plaque for the experimental film “Farewell
to Childhood” - ten best films of the year - Great Britain (1950) On
April 5, 2002 a stamp was issued on Lester.
In December 2003 he was awarded an honourary doctorate from the
University of Peradeniya. A hybrid orchid was named after Dr. Lester
James Peries on 11th March 2004 - Ascocenda Lester Peries. In 1985 he
was awarded an honourary doctorate in literature (Degree of Doctor of
Letters - honoris causa) by the Colombo University, Sri Lanka.
Filmography
Amma Warune (An Elegy for a Mother, 2007) Wekande Walauwa (Mansion by
the Lake, 2002) Awaragira (The Sunset, 1995) Yuganthaya (The Changing
Village Part 3, 1983) Kaliyugaya (The Time of Kali - The Changing
Village Part 2, 1982) Baddegama (Village in the jungle, 1980) Veera
Puran Appu (Rebellion, 1979) Pinhami (1979) Ahasin Polawata (White
Flowers for the Dead, 1978) Madol Duwa (Enchanted Island, 1976) The God
King (1975) Desa Nisa (The Eyes, 1972) Nidhanaya (The Treasure, 1970)
Akkara Paha (Five Acres of Land, 1969) Golu Hadawatha (Silent Heart,
1968) Ran Salu (The Yellow Robe, 1967) Delovak Athara (Between Two
Worlds, 1966) |