The Book of Clarence
"I’d never overthrow Rome – my good friend is Roman."
Seeing The Book of Clarence made me want to watch Jeymes Samuel’s first film, The Harder They Fall, which also made its debut at the London Film Festival (in 2021). Evidently a cultural phenomenon, the Black comedy attracted masses of London’s Black community to the Southbank Centre with its promise of Samuel’s signature mix of humour, drama, and an incredible score.
Setting the film in biblical times, Samuel inserts a character named Clarence (played by LaKeith Stanfield, who was also in The Harder They Fall) into the story of Jesus’s crucifixion. Clarence is a cynic, and has little reverence for the Messiah, who has adopted Clarence’s twin brother as one of his disciples. The story follows his journey through seeing the opportunity to profit from performing so-called ‘miracles’ for crowds, to understanding the need to have faith and believe in things other than simply what’s in front of him.
For pretending to be the Messiah and scamming people out of their money, and then for not giving up the real one, Clarence is ultimately crucified by the Romans, along with many of his brethren.
The residents of this altered Jerusalem, who are mostly black, are constantly at war with the white Romans. This seems to overtly represent the disparity between white cops and marginalised Black communities in cities, without feeling jarring or overstated. One running theme is the idea that, whilst people within the community might have their differences, when it comes to standing up against others (like the Romans) who seek to oppress them, they will always band together.
The long list of actors in the cast includes RJ Cyler, Caleb McLaughlin, Alfre Woodard, Teyana Taylor, David Oyelowo, Anna Diop, and Omar Sy. Notably, on IMDb the supporting actors who feature most heavily in the project are much lower down in the credits, while James McAvoy and Benedict Cumberbatch, who probably only have about 20 minutes of screen time or less, are second and third on the list. The real Messiah is played by black British actor Nicholas Pinnock, subverting the audience’s typical image of God’s son.
What stood out the most throughout the film was the music, co-produced by Jay-Z, that nicely complemented the plot. Samuel’s own background as a music producer gives him a leg up in this department, and he even claims to “see music and hear the film when writing the soundtrack”. The costumes were also stunning, which can be credited to Antoinette Messam, who was also Samuel’s costume designer from The Harder They Fall.
This was one of the best films I’ve seen in a long time, and I can’t think of any criticisms for it – I wouldn’t be surprised to see it recognised in the next awards season. Samuel’s visions are spectacular, and his hope is that people will watch his films and see stories they can relate to, as well as to “reintroduce innocence and hope”. For him, filmmaking is “not a dream; it’s an aim, intentions, plans”, and The Book of Clarence is a plan he has managed to execute to perfection.
