No Place Like Home

Perry Henzell’s The Harder They Come served worldwide in 1972 as an introduction to reggae. Henzell spent the next eight years getting enough money together to make his second Jamaican feature, No Place Like Home. He shot the film in the course of the 1970s, but when the New York laboratory where the film material was stored closed down, the negative was lost. To Henzell’s great delight it was recently rediscovered. The film could be completed, but Henzell unfortunately died before No Place Like Home could be screened for a Jamaican audience.
The film reveals a wisdom that transcends the simple story of a producer of commercials who has to track down his star actress after she walks out. Reggae (by Bob Marley and Desmond Dekker among others) also forms the backbone of this second film by Henzell. In addition the film is full of inventive, raw and sensitive observations of everyday life. The film also has a nostalgic side and with its colour, rhythm, music and camerawork, it paints a picture of a society that has perhaps now disappeared.
Cameron Baily (Toronto catalogue): ‘With the breezy grace of a lifelong philosopher, Henzell makes his points about globalisation, political corruption and the still-charged realm of interracial relationships.’ (EH)