Black Joy (1977 film)
| Black Joy | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Anthony Simmons |
| Produced by |
Elliott Kastner Arnon Milchan Martin Campbell |
| Written by | Jamal Ali |
| Starring |
Norman Beaton Trevor Thomas |
| Music by |
Gladys Knight and the Pips Aretha Franklin Jimmy Helms The Drifters Ben E. King The O'Jays |
| Cinematography | Phil Meheux |
| Edited by | Thom Noble |
| Distributed by | ITC Entertainment |
|
Release date
|
1977 |
|
Running time
|
110 min |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | under £300,000 or $350,000 |
Black Joy is a British film released in 1977, directed by Anthony Simmons. The story of an immigrant country boy in Brixton, London. It was entered into the 1977 Cannes Film Festival.
The film is a lightly ironic, British culture-clash comedy. Trevor Thomas heads the cast as a Guyanese youth who is under the delusion that life will be easier for him in London. No sooner does Thomas set foot in England than he gets tangled up in one disaster after another. The catalyst for most of Our Hero's travails is "assimilated" Caribbean Norman Beaton, who plays a streetwise con artist.
The film was adapted from Dark Days and Light Nights, a stage play by Jamal Ali, who also wrote the screenplay.
In London in the late 1970s, Guyanese immigrant Ben Jones arrives at Heathrow Airport with a suitcase and a wallet full of money. Immigration officials refuse to believe his naïve explanation that the cash was given by his grandmother, and strip-search him. Humiliated and confused, Ben travels to Brixton in search of an obscure address. A ten-year-old boy, Devon, spots him and offers to help find the address if Ben pays him. When Ben foolishly reveals his fat wallet, Devon runs off with it, and Ben is forced to sleep at the local hostel. Dave King, a charismatic petty crook and lover of Devon's mother Miriam, pretends to be a responsible adult and intercepts Ben's wallet, but he keeps the money knowing that Devon has stolen it. That evening, Dave tries to seduce Miriam but she resists him, explaining that she has recently become pregnant. An argument ensues and Miriam forces Dave to leave.
Ben almost loses his suitcase at the hostel, but defends himself against the thief. In an attempt to find his missing wallet he follows Devon around Brixton, but is sidetracked by Devon's beautiful aunt Saffra. At Miriam's café, Ben confronts Devon about the stolen wallet but Dave intercedes and calms the situation, hiding Devon's guilt and befriending Ben by loaning him some money. Unaware that Dave's cash comes from his own stolen wallet, Ben accompanies Dave to a betting shop and defends him in a brawl. They place a bet on a horse that wins and Ben puts his winnings towards new accommodation. He finds a job as a dustman but loses it all again when he gives his earnings to a fraudulent landlord. Desperate for somewhere to stay, Ben appeals to Dave to share a flat. Once he realises that Ben now has a steady income Dave agrees to the flat-share and imposes a set of slanted rules that Ben is too naïve to reject.
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