Doyen of Sinhala cinema

Lester James Peries, who won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the IFFI, portrayed existential realities and nuances of rural life in his films. D.B.S. JEYARAJ feels that Peries's training as a documentary film-maker and his penchant for creative literature are reflected in his works.

LESTER JAMES PERIES, the pioneer of authentic Sinhala cinema, was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 31st International Film Festival of India that concluded last week in New Delhi. Last year it was awarded to Italian film maker Bernardo Bertolucci. It was fitting indeed that the doyen of Sri Lankan film directors was honoured so in New Delhi because it was that city which catapulted Peries to fame 36 years ago. His "Gamperaliya"( Village Upheaval ) received the Golden Peacock award for Best Film then.

The first Sinhala movie was "Kadawuna Porunthuva" (Broken Promise). Made in Madras it was released in 1947. Most Sinhala films in the first decade were heavily influenced by Hindi and Tamil "masala" films. It was said that the only thing "Sinhala" about them were the actors and the dialogue. The pioneering departure from this trend was by Lester in 1956 when his maiden feature film "Rekawa" ( Destiny) was released. Shot entirely in Sri Lankan outdoor locations the path breaking film altered the destiny of Sinhala films. From "Rekawa" to his last film so far "Avagira", the auteur has left his celluloid imprint in a productive career that has spanned five decades.

Critics have described the nature of his films as the "cinema of contemplation". India's greatest film maker Satyajit Ray considered Peries to be of the same mould as him and once referred to the Sri Lankan as his "closest relative East of the Suez". In spite of the creative affinity between the two, Peries was not influenced by Ray when he made his first film. Regi Siriwardena, the well known Sri Lankan writer and critic, says that Peries had not seen "Pathar Panchali" or "Apu Sansar" when he made "Rekawa". Siriwardena who worked as scriptwriter with Peries on some films, told this writer by telephone that the first Ray film seen by Lester was "Aparajitho" and that too after "Rekawa" was made. "It is a classic instance of two great Asian directors being of the same creative wavelength and proceeding on a parallel course independent of each other" says Siriwardena. The octogenarian director was born on April 5, 1919 in Dehiwela, a suburb of Colombo. Born to Catholic parents with an affluent westernised background, Lester had his schooling at St. Peter's College. His parents wanted him to become a lawyer or doctor while his teachers wanted him to be a priest. Lester, however, wanted to study literature and began writing stories, poems and plays from his student days. He was also an incurable film buff.

After leaving school, Lester went to London where he led a bohemian existence that bordered on the avant garde. While working as correspondent of the Colombo-based Times of Ceylon, Peries also engaged himself in making short films and documentaries. A short film "Soliloquy" made in 1949 won an award for artistic and technical merit from the Institute of Amateur and Research film makers of Great Britain in 1951. Returning to Ceylon or Sri Lanka as it was known then in 1954, Peries joined the Government Film Unit and began churning out several documentaries. Associated with him at the GFU were cameraman Willie Blake and editor Titus Thotawatte. Yearning to create meaningful films the trio resigned from the GFU and embarked on the "Rekawa" venture. The trio broke up later, with Blake migrating to Australia and Thotawatte becoming a film director in his own right. Thereafter Peries worked with a number of different artistes and technical personnel in different pictures without being tied down to a particular team for long.

The only exception was his wife Sumithra who has been editing his films and assisting in screenplays. In later years, Sumithra blossomed into a successful film director who could portray feminine, but not necessarily feminist, issues sensitively on screen. She also served as Ambassador to France where her husband received the French Legion D' Honour. Lester's early training as a documentary film maker as well as his penchant for creative literature were reflected in his films. According to Regi Siriwardena, the twin hallmarks of Lester's auteuristic film making approach were his stylistic "construction of narrative" and ability to "capture and project actualities in a realistic manner". "His documentary experience as literary background made this possible" says Siriwardena.

After "Rekawa", Peries made "Sandesaya" (Message), a historic drama set against the Portuguese conquest of the Island. Then came "Gamperaliya" in 1964 that made its mark in the New Delhi film festival. It was the first of a trilogy based on novels by the late Martin Wickremasinghe, a Sinhala literary colossus. The others were "Kaliyugaya" (Era of Kali or Kaliyug) and "Yuganthaya" (End of an era). The three films made after long intervals of time depicted on celluloid the collapse of the old order and the emergence of the new. Together they comprise an epic of transition portraying vividly on screen the struggle between a dying world and another struggling to be born.

His greatest movie however was "Nidhanaya"(Treasure) made in 1970. Based on a novelette by G. B. Senanayake, it won the Royal Lion award at the Venice film festival. It is also included in the global list of 100 best films to be ever made that was compiled by the Cinematic Institute of France to mark the World Film centenary. Nidhanaya also won the award at Sri Lanka's Golden Jubilee of Independence for being the best Sinhala movie in 50 years. It also won critical acclaim as one of the ten top Asian films for all time.

Though a citizen of the world with a cosmopolitan background, he succeeded greatly in portraying the existential realities and nuances of rural Sri Lanka and its ontological veneer. Some of his milestones include "Delovak Athara" (Between Two Worlds), "Golu Hadawatha" (Silent Longing) "Ran Salu" (Golden Robe), "Akkara Paha" (Five Acres) "Ahasin Polowata" (From Sky To Earth) and "Beddagama" (Village In The Jungle).

The only English film made by Peries was "God King", a Sri Lankan-German co-production. With a blend of foreign and local artistes, the film was shot in Sri Lanka. The story revolved around a Sinhala monarch Kassyap who built the Lion Fortress- palace rendered famous by its frescoes on Mount Sigiriya. The stipulations of a foreign-funded movie restricted Peiris's creative control and cramped his style severely. The result was quite visible in the finished product which was not one of the director's best work. As a pioneer of authentic Sinhala cinema, the trail-blazing Lester has been inspiring two generations of film makers in the country. He has also introduced a number of artistes and technicians who went on to make a name for themselves. He has been on the jury of several international film festivals. Peries has also been conferred honorary doctorates by several institutions.

Lester James Peries has received a number of awards in a lifetime of film making. The IFFI is to be commended in bestowing upon the veteran director on January 20 this year the Llifetime Achievement Award in what is probably the crowning glory of a hectic, eventful and productive life.

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