Banishing Expectations: A Conversation with writer and actor Johnny Harris of Jawbone.
Interview: Ioannis Chiras
Pictures: Almicheal Fraay
Currently residing in the top three of the LIFF Audience Award, Jawbone, the enthralling British boxing film by writer and actor Johnny Harris has a lot more to offer than a punch in the gut. Being considered as a sport drama on a first note, the writing debut of Harris, an actor known for his impeccable performance on the award-winning mini-series This Is England ’86, reverberates notions of the established kitchen-sink drama by employing its tools, yet always finding ways to subvert its expectations.
Premiering yesterday, the 3rd of November, at the Leiden International Film Festival, Jawbone made a considerable impact on its audience members; today I sat with Johnny Harris himself to discuss about the journey of the film to this day and its reception: “I was sitting on the back of the theater watching the film, and I was surprised and humbled by the response of the audience”, Harris mentioned, clearly affected by the positive response: “It is always interesting to see how people will react to your work, especially when it is a story that relates to you personally.” Though inherently modest, Harris went to lengths in discussing about his process behind the making of the film.
“I would like it to be perceived as a film about the role of community”
Albeit a film about the struggle of addiction on a personal level, Jawbone showcases an interesting reflection on the traditional British social realist drama with a spin on it; reverberating the cinema of Ken Loach and Shane Meadows, Harris’ writing is full of homages and symbolism's. Jimmy McCabe, the protagonist of the film, can be read against the background of characters like Daniel Blake, the most recent addition to the canon of British realist cinema (I, Daniel Blake, 2016), yet that would be unfair to the depth of the script and personal involvement of Harris. “Overall, this project lasted for 7 years”, he mentioned, with the shooting only comprising 2 months of that time.
The semi-autobiographical prose of the screenplay resembles another screenwriting debut back in 1997, that of Gary Oldman’s with Nil By Mouth, an actor and film that Harris speaks fondly of. Posing the question of a potential influence of that film, the response was firm: “Gary is the best, an inspiration and an idol of mine, and Nil By Mouth one of the greatest films. It is really interesting that you made this comparison because, yes, it is true that one could be made.” Telling the story of a working-class family in London and focusing on the point of view of Raymond, the father of the house, Nil By Mouth subverted the traditions of the kitchen-sink drama by offering access to different perspectives of characters, and Jawbone manages to achieve the same. By focusing on the individual story of washed-up boxer Jimmy McCabe, the film bounces back to several points of view, namely his trainer Eddie (Michael Smiley) and the owner of the gym William (Ray Winstone), highlighting the need and essence of community. Posing the question of self-introspection and whether this film could be interpreted as an enabling tool for people struggling with addiction to pose the mirror towards themselves instead of the world around them, Harris was assertive: “I don’t know if the film is seen like that, and if it would then that would be great, but for me the film is about the essence of community… How do the people around us influence and enable us to find a truth within ourselves… Both Eddie and William played that role in real life for Jimmy and that is what the film is about. Conveying this need of connection.”
This merge of individual culpability and the openness for connection is something that every audience member, despite their cultural background, can relate to. It is not a coincidence that at the premiere of the film at Trianon people from different background and age showed empathy for the protagonist, projecting their own experience onto the screen. In making a parallel connection to I, Daniel Blake, a film that also dealt with the working-class experience and specifically the struggle with bureaucracy and institutional power structures, Harris seemed to acknowledge the connection, yet his approach deviated from a one-sided critique: “I am aware of the comparisons made with that film and Loach’s work in general, and I was also aware of the tradition that comes with that kind of drama, and my intention always was to showcase that awareness but at the same time subvert the expectations and make something unique and real.” Surely, that is not only evident from the familiar backdrop, that is the grim setting in a working-class environment, but also the thematic lines dealt in the film: masculinity and boxing, two things inherently associated to each other by the structure of our modern society are used in unexpected ways. “In a sense, we see men being both strong and vulnerable, bringing to the forth the idea of Good and Evil, God and Devil, the ancient Greek tragedies… and at the end we view all of them as they really are.” In contrast to the British realist canon of female characters being subservient to patriarchal figures, Jawbone brings to the forth male characters in their vulnerability without retreating to a miserable depiction; as Harris mentioned, “this film could easily be directed by a woman.”
Freedom within the Creative Process
As already mentioned, Jawbone is a project that was in the making for seven years. Harris was the first to be involved, after the financial backing of BFI (British Film Institute), sending an early draft of the script to the then head of BFI and now deceased Christopher Collins. Paul Weller’s involvement, composer of the film, came right afterwards, and Harris, a big fan of his, was assertive in sharing his excitement: “The first draft of the film found its way to Paul through a common friend of ours. Paul never composed a film before and he was keen on doing so, and I was lucky enough that he read my script… he is a legend and I was working with him from the get go with certain musical cues that accompanied my writing.”
Surely, the soundtrack of the film comes in accordance with the dynamic of the characters and the plot, elevating each scene, especially with the original song specifically written for the final fight scene, ‘The Ballad of Jimmy McCabe’: “At first, we thought of having this title as the title of the film, but then there was some pressure to create a one-word title… Jawbone, with its biblical reference from the story of Samson, came to me and Mike’s (Elliot) mind.” Religious connotations and metaphors are evident all over the visual palette, with cinematographer Ted Radcliffe (’71) conveying the density of the script: “I was very much aware that I needed the correct people for every position… able to understand the meanings and metaphors hidden in the script, which was tight and dense to begin with. This, and trimming the fat were my main intentions in the writing process, and finding the right people afterwards… Ray Winstone was one of the first people who laid eyes on the script, and I knew that I wanted him to be part of it. I remember I got a phone call at 03:00 am one night with him saying that he would like to play the role of William.”
Regarding the casting of Eddie, a character based on a real person who was in his 70s, Harris had trouble finding the right person. “I was very protective of the script and was not intending on doing any changes, but then I was advised whether it would be a good choice to make him younger… then the names of actors were coming at us by agents, since the project was already cast and known. The name of Michael Smiley came up. It was funny, since I go back with Michael for years now. We are good friends. I immediately called him and sent him the script…”
The casting of Smiley, a character actor with a proven record, proved itself ingenious as we cannot think now of anyone else conveying this role better. And Harris is aware of that, praising all his fellow cast members with great respect.
Success… and what is next?
When asked what he expects from people to take away from the film, Harris sums ups his thoughts with clarity: “I am happy to see people having their own interpretation of the film… I have my intentions going in and I enjoy seeing people being affected by my story.” It is true that the reception is overwhelmingly positive. Besides the successful screenings at Leiden Film Festival, the film gathered seven nominations in the upcoming British Independent Film Awards (two of them for Harris, as an actor and writer), with the writer expressing his gratitude: “We were recently nominated for the upcoming BIF awards and I very happy about it… Gary Oldman will also be there, as a special honoree!” Of course, the journey of the film is not over yet, and that also applies to Harris. “I recently finished shooting a new television show for BBC and Netflix in Cape Town called Troy: Fall of a City. It was a nice experience and I will play Agamemnon… a way of going back to the Greek tragedies!”
Jawbone was screened at the Leiden International Film Festival, accompanied by a Q&A of Johhny Harris with the audience.
