Walk Good, A Film About Life In Jamaica
Walk Good is an arresting account of the Jamaican experience, through the lens of South African Director Adriaan Louw. The ten-minute film takes the audience on a journey across the beautiful, nuanced island. Through city streets, rural gateways, and everything in between, Louw captures the ordered chaos, juxtaposed by the true beauty that vindicates life on the Island. With the use of tight intimate shots, contrasted by the fuller, more dynamic shots that give room for warm, homely angles; Louw casts an ingratiating spectacle of both the landscape and it’s people.
The phrase ‘Walk Good’ is an endearing Jamaican expression meaning farewell, the same somber, yet charming mood that runs through the feature forming its emotional core. From flattering countryside scenes that make Jamaica a pleasure to the sight, right back to the gritty street dances that give dancehall culture, its real edge, all is laid bare in this film.
It manages a perfect balance and clarity in it’s telling, one that only life on the island can truly grant. It’s through this clarity that we’re able to distinguish the order and the nuance that, unknown to many, characterize the chaos of Jamaican life. Whether it be a well-centered dialogue about Dancehall and the difference between club and street dance culture, or the breathtaking visuals of outdoor nightlife, Walk Good gets it.
We had the chance to chat with the directors Adrian Louw and Roberto Colombo who shared some of their experience.
Answered by Roberto and Adriaan
Is there something in particular that drew you to Jamaica?
Adriaan and Roberto: For being a relatively small island/country, it has had, and still has, significant cultural impact on the world; so getting to know its people first hand was always an enticing prospect. As South Africans, Jamaica felt really far to get to, we had the opportunity and wanted to see the differences and also similarities between the two countries.
How long did it take to shoot this film?
A&R: We arrived, rented a car, and explored the island for 6 days, being guided by interesting people we met along the way. We had no plan and wanted to approach everything open minded and let the place/country tell its own story. So yes, 6 days.
Was it always the intention for it to be what it is now, or did you just sort of discover the story through revising and editing footage?
A&R: We had no set story in mind before we arrived, we were hoping to explore some youth subcultures. However, this might have been influenced by content we’d previously seen of Jamaica.
When we arrived it was simply following the flow of people we met, letting them guide us through different settings. Once we received the processed film we went through all the footage a few times and initially split it up into certain scenes. However we both got quite busy with work for a while, and we let it sit on a hard drive, but always had it in the back of our minds. When things slowed down during lockdown, we revisited it with a somewhat new perspective. And as time had passed since we had been there, we viewed the footage with more of a yearning to go back, and a fondness of the people we had met and who gave us a glimpse into their way of life on the island, kind of reliving the experience. So overall the film became gentler, and more “a love letter”; less putting our own touch on it, and more letting the camera drift through Jamaica, in and out of characters’ lives. Things started to present itself and creating connections organically
Would you say you had a spiritual or soul connection with Jamaica?
A&R: We realised Jamaicans are very good story tellers, and have a beautiful way with words. So when you meet strangers along the way, you get drawn into their world from the stories they tell you about themselves and others. With a love to share their thoughts, they paint these beautiful scenes in your head, which is akin to a sort of spiritual connection in my eyes. I think our soul connections grew stronger the longer we were there. The more we tapped into it.
What was your perception, or perhaps, the perception being fed to you, about dancehall before and after visiting Jamaica?
Roberto: A good quote from the film that works here: “the good is hidden, the bad goes viral”. Which I thought couldn’t be more true. As things present themselves internationally people could perceive things a certain way. The sensationalising of the media. But when you delve somewhat deeper into research, or go see it for ourselves as we did, you get a broader picture of dancehall. However that’s just our experience a few years ago. Adriaan is better versed in this than I am. I was able to join him on a project that allowed us explore Dance cultures in South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal which opened my eyes to the multiple aspects of dancehall and how influential it has been on the African continent.
Adrian: Yeah exactly. I was really fond to see how the real experience of dancehall would be in its home country, with dance and music. Both have had a massive impact on Africa and within that have developed into its own genre
Was it your first time on the island?
A&R: Yes. As South Africans we don’t often get the opportunity to travel to the Americas, so we were very intrigued by what we would find on the island, which has such a strong cultural heritage.
What stands out about being in some of those dancehall sessions?
A&R: How loud it is haha and how gripping it is, and how much fun everyone is having, and how anyone can get involved. Loose choreography amongst people was prominent on the dance floor. It was also amazing how expressive people were in the space that at first just seems like a party but actually it acts more like a stage for people to communicate their skill and feelings.
The opening scene features the recording of a young gentleman singing a mournful song of goodbye to an undisclosed person, and this sets the tone of the film. A tone of despondence, and triumph. It is in many ways a celebration and mourning of life lost, both through death and through travel or migration, which this film seems to argue are the same in feeling.
The sometimes haunting silence which punctuates the film, creates an air of weightlessness that often gives the camera a disembodied sensation. It fosters a sort of floating experience, as if from the viewpoint of some poltergeist floating around the country. Through the eyes of this ghostly presence, the theme of freedom is explored in earnest. Louw shows us just how much the pursuit of freedom is ingrained in Jamaican life, with something as simple as bike riding which is considered a building block of many communities in terms of livelihood. He draws the same parallel with the Rastafarian lifestyle which also began in the pursuit of freedom and even dancehall itself which is a platform for many Jamaicans to express themselves and experience a true kind of freedom. A mental and spiritual freedom that the country’s independence from the british colonies has yet to grant it’s people.
In its entirety, Walk Good attempts, with great success, to capture the beauty and sadness in travelling to, falling in love with, and then having to leave Jamaica and its rich culture. In doing so, the film also provides a vital look into the life and times of Jamaica, the caribbean’s great jewel. A telling that is often notoriously difficult, all done comfortably within the span of a cool 10 minutes. This film experience is heavy but well worth its weight, as short is as may be.