Out of this world

>> Clement Virgo directs The Planet of Junior Brown

by MATTHEW HAYS

One wouldn't expect Clement Virgo, filmmaker behind the critically acclaimed 1995 feature Rude, to be directing a TV movie based on a popular children's novel, but that's exactly what he's doing. Producer Paul Stephens came across Virginia Hamilton's award-winning The Planet of Junior Brown in the late '80s, and was immediately taken with the idea of turning it into a feature. After five years of wrangling, he managed to land the rights to the novel. Then he landed Virgo as director, someone Stephens saw as ideal for the task, since Rude was such a visually stylish riff on Toronto street life.

"I really fell in love with Junior Brown when I read the book," recalls Virgo, from his Toronto home. "His character really spoke to me as an outsider and a misfit." Junior Brown has its precocious pianist hero, played by newcomer Martin Villafana, struggling to cope with a controlling and needy mother (Lynn Whitfield), his first infatuation and his longing to hone his piano-playing craft. Rainbow Sun Francks plays his best friend with a dark past, Buddy Clark. The two do their best to survive at school, where their resistance to the system manifests itself in a two-month-long game of hooky from their high school classes. Virgo rounds out the able cast with such luminaries as Margot Kidder and Sarah Polley (The Sweet Hereafter).

"Adaptation does present challenges," Virgo acknowledges, "but I was lucky in that this book wasn't as famous as something like The English Patient. People tend to personalize what they've read, so if everyone's read it, the comparisons are going to arise. The book itself is very cinematic, so translating it to the screen was actually surprisingly simple."

Virgo and co-screenwriter Cameron Bailey transplanted the setting of the 1972 novel from '70s Harlem to '90s Toronto. Despite the jump from cinema to TV, Virgo reports the constraints of the box were minimal. "Working with actors under 18, there are sexual situations you simply can't depict. As much of the film is set on the street, I wanted to use a certain kind of language. But you can't say the words fuck or motherfucker on TV. Writing a script without those words presented an interesting challenge."

The irony of Junior Brown's estimated audience numbers is not lost on Virgo. While Junior Brown is an exciting project, his directorial debut Rude is a more personal and accomplished work. Yet in one night on TV, Junior Brown will undoubtedly be seen by more people than the entire audience for Rude. "I'm not snobbish about TV in the least, but film is definitely a more personal medium. It's a challenge for black filmmakers. When you use black actors, your work is seen as out of the mainstream. How do you get people to see it? Do you focus on your own community, or do you try to cross over?"

For Virgo, now working on a feature based on his 1993 short film Save My Lost Nigga Soul, any challenges faced by the TV medium were worth it. "Junior Brown is a sexy, cool movie. People should tune in for it."

The Planet of Junior Brown airs this Sunday, Nov. 30, 8pm on CBC