Arts

Lester and films:

Bonded for life

Suharshi PERERA

Traversing through the winding path of destiny he reached the zenith of glory. The contented but unexhausted traveller who devoted his life to change the line of destiny of the Sinhala cinema now sits in his room which he calls a `comfort zone' contemplating the long journey as he marks another significant milestone of his life, his 90th year.

"It has been a long pilgrimage," says Dr. Lester James Peries, the iconic film director whose imagination and experience veered the direction of the Sinhala cinema for over fifty years, sedately recollecting the bygone years that brimmed with activity.

Having treaded 89 years on the path of life, the pre-eminent artiste has retreated to his `comfort zone' to indulge in his favourite preoccupation; reading and coming to terms with the twilight tranquillity of one's life.

"It's not a confinement. This is a place where I have a more personal choice," he says contentedly stating that reading, watching movies, meeting people and going out occasionally keep him occupied at this point.

"As the Bible says man is grown in three scores years and ten. I'm in that category of old age," he humbly remarks.

Dr.Peries who rewrote the history of the Sri Lankan cinema by introducing a new line of cinematic experience based on human relationships which got firmly entrenched in the hearts of the cinema goers says no film-maker is hundred percent satisfied with his or her creations.

"Cinema is a medium that cannot be compared to any other medium as costs are astronomical," reflects the veteran director. He believes that serious film is a kind of luxury but unfortunately the present day cinema is a deviation from these qualities.

"Commercial movies have not shown much development over the years.

Mostly those are framed and even Hollywood movies are caged," Peries reviews while stating in Sri Lanka per se the cinema has taken on an obscure path where movies are done very haphazardly, mostly on a thin budget.

"Cinema is an entertainment focused medium. That's why people watch movies. However, I believe that cinema should convey an experience and if it is conveyed the movie will be a success," said the film director who has won fame and accolades here and world over owing to his brilliance in portraying life through a cinematic experience.

He nurtured the cinema with 20 acclaimed creations starting with Rekhava. Those are mostly based on Sinhala novels by eminent writers, most importantly Martin Wickremesinghe in which he touched upon human relationships in the social set up.

With equal poise and subtlety, he captured the complex human sentiments in both rural backdrop and urban aristocracy. "Leap in the imagination" as he calls it is imperative for an artiste to move into diverse social set ups and feelings. The artiste understands the feelings of different characters rooted in different social strata if he possesses imaginative sympathy. "Martin Wickremesinghe's trilogy, Gamperaliya, Yuganthaya and Kaliyugaya is a good example for the leap in the imagination as it covers the whole canvas of social change. It starts with the rural set up with the Gamperaliya and moves into depicting the social status of upper middle class and aristocracy with the other two movies," he observes.

While his focus was on family and human relationships, his director wife Sumitra, another iconic contemporary film-maker sheds lights on the woman's plight in the current social scenario through her path-breaking cinema and teledrama creations. She co-directed films with

Lester and was later posted to Paris as Sri Lankan Ambassador in France.

The first outlet of his creativity was not filmography but journalism. The young Lester who maintained a close rapport with books inevitably had a passion for the pen. He was determined to be a journalist while studying at St. Peter's College, Colombo.

He wrote to the Daily News and later to the Times of Ceylon primarily on movies as he was well versed in the subject. "We (he and his brothers) never missed a movie that was screened at Plaza, Savoy and Majestic," the film critic turned director recalls the joyful days.

A meeting with Lionel Wendt through his artist brother Ivan was another decisive juncture of his life. Wendt invited the young writer to contribute to his magazine Kesari for which he handled the film page later on.

His cinematic eye grew with consorting books, writing and watching movies and his involvement with the theatre group called `Drama Circle' finally moulded the talented writer to be a promising filmmaker.

"I always give opportunities to new people if there's freshness in playing that can be manipulated towards a good creation," the renowned film director remarks.

Having introduced talents like the legendary Gamini Fonseka to the Sri Lankan cinema and won praise and fame for his unique creations, Dr. Peries retired from film direction after his last movie Ammawarune which hit the theatres in 2007.

Much to the disappointment of the filmmaker and cinema lovers these films which won national and international acclaim were not preserved systematically.

"I learned that the original negatives of Nidhanaya (Treasure) were burnt as they got corrupt," the grieved filmmaker notes. There is an urgent need for preservation of these treasures of our cinema.

"I believe President Mahinda Rajapaksa is determined to find a suitable methodology to preserve them".

The great film artiste who harnessed the local cinema in a new light will step into his 90th year today April 5. The UNESCO will honour the great man by screening his magnificent cinema creation Gamperaliya at Salle 1 of the UNESCO headquarters in Paris on April 6.

About being 90, he says he is blessed to have lived this long. "You have to be 90 to realize what it is to be like 90," the doyen of filmmakers says while flashing a contented smile.

"Spectacular... Spectacular" Splendid performance

Ranga CHANDRARATHNE

Spectacular in performance, costume design and music, "Spectacular... Spectacular" proved once again that D. S. Senanayake College has successfully nurtured a school drama culture, especially in English medium. Such English theatre in schools would in the long run, help build a Sri Lankan theatre in English with a distinction. Apart from enhancing the innate abilities of the students, English theatre in school is an ideal platform to develop language skills of the students.

The recently held theatrical exercise "Spectacular... Spectacular", a three-tier drama by the students of D. S. Senanayake College, was an eye opener as it demonstrated their immense potential for creating an interactive environment to nurture English education in the country. Apart from its theatrical excellence, "Spectacular... Spectacular" shows that Sri Lankan school drama culture which is still rich, as the school cricket produces cricketers for the national cricket team, is capable of producing a generation of students well versed in English. Drama has always proved an effective platform for language learning.

"Spectacular... Spectacular" was made up of three short plays; "Don Perlimplin and Belisa's Love in the Graden", "It runs in the Family" and "Sorry Wrong Number". Belisa's marriage to Don Perlimplin has, apparently, been a mismatch. However, Belisa stealthily starts a love affair with a secret lover and meet in the garden. Subsequently, it was revealed that the lover, who covered his face with a red shawl, was none other than Don Perlimplin.

The plot is about the mismatch of persons who enter into wedlock. The story highlights the fact that what really matters in a marriage, more than anything else, is physical and emotional bond of the couple rather than other attributes such as wealth and social status. However, the wealth and social status also play a vital role in life which is a fact that actually sealed the marriage of Don Perlimplin and Belisa.

"Mother; Oh, our gratitude" The gratitude of our heart and yourself I have sensed it in spite of the fact it is twenty years since I have had a relationship with a man.

'It runs in the family' is a comedy where a doctor is visited by a female attendant with her son. The attendant had an affair with the doctor who now puts final touches to a speech to be delivered at the annual sessions of the professional association.

The play among other things satirically looks at fake rhetoric trotted out in so called "annual sessions" and how the sessions have been used as launching pad for professionals to climb the career ladder. In addition of the central story, the comedy has revealed the sordid affairs in the profession of medical doctors.

The last of the three plays, "Sorry Wrong Number" highlights the systemic aliments where the inaction on the part of persons on duty is depicted.

It is the institutional inaction and callous manner in which the police entertain a complaint which prevented the arrest of the would be murderer. The main characters of the three plays were depicted convincingly with creating corresponding emotions and humour associated with characters.

Senel Wanniarachchi who played the main role, the physician, in the play "It runs in the Family", has able to bring out the emotions especially the humour associated with the character.

The delivery of dialogue on the part of all actors was natural. They were able to evoke sentiments demanded by the roles, keeping the audience in suspense.

OGFU launches Lak Roo channel

The Government Film Unit (GFU) will launch today (April 5) Lak Roo as a tribute to Dr. Lester James Peries on his 90th birthday which falls today. Dr. Lester James Peries headed the Government Film Unit before he embarked on his legendary career in cinema. It will be launched in collaboration with PEO TV.

During his short spell at the GFU, Dr. Peries played a prominent role in the production of Nelungama and Heritage of Sri Lanka and directed for GFU documentaries like "Conquest in the Dry Zone" on the eradication of malaria, "Too Many too soon" a propaganda film on family planning, and "Be Safe or be Sorry" on road safety.

- Ranga