Soul Survivor (film)
| Soul Survivor | |
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| Directed by | Stephen Williams |
| Produced by | Paul Brown |
| Screenplay by | Stephen Williams |
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| Music by | John McCarthy |
| Cinematography | David Franco |
| Edited by | Jeff Warren |
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89 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
Soul Survivor is a 1995 Canadian drama film directed by Stephen Williams, who also wrote the screenplay. Produced by Paul Brown, the film stars George Harris, Peter Williams, and Clark Johnson and is set in Toronto's African-Caribbean sector.
Tyrone Taylor (Peter Williams) is a Jamaican-Canadian immigrant, living in Toronto and working as a hairdresser at a local salon. He doesn't enjoy working at the salon and is looking for ways to easy money, in order to quit his job. He starts collecting debts for Winston Price (George Harris), a local gangster and owner of a nearby nightclub. Though Tyrone's new job under Price is violent and illegal, he tries to rationalize it by talking himself into the belief that he will soon have enough money to quit and go into a cleaner business. His jobs become more and more violent and one day he is forced to collect money from his cousin Reuben (David Smith), who will not pay back. Tyrone takes his side and guarantees his ability to pay to Price. Tyrone's girlfriend Annie (Judith Scott) and his family, who soon find out about Tyrone's new employment, try talking him out the job, warning him of all the dangers that come with it. Tyrone however, continues, believing he is too careful to get caught.
Director Stephen Williams explained the journey of Tyrone was loosely based on his personal experiences when first moving to Toronto from Jamaica.
Stephen Williams also commented on working with his brother Peter (Tyrone Taylor) and what it was like, shooting an emotional scene: "It was really hard, it was really painful to watch. [...] I would have felt that for any actor, but more so because he's my brother. I felt badly that I put him through that, but the scene required that kind of emotional response and we had to do it. That took me by surprise. We shot a love scene, for instance, and it didn't feel any different than shooting a love scene with any actor, but for some reason this one here of him crying was painful to witness."
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Wikipedia