Rethinking Lester James Peries

The last time I called Sumitra Peries was about a month before her passing, in December 2022. We talked about the state of politics in Sri Lanka, about the aragalaya, about the economy, and about Woody Allen. We also talked about Lester James Peries. We recalled the many times we met at their former residence, in what was then Dickman’s Road, the conversations we had, the food we ate, the things we talked about. I often wished I met her that week in December. But she was too busy, and I had no time.

- BY UDITHA DEVAPRIYA

I suppose my generation was the last that encountered Lester, Sumitra, and the cultural community they created in Sri Lanka. Today’s generation are not so fortunate. Perhaps I err in thinking that they lived through the peak of our country’s art and culture. Perhaps our times aren’t so bad after all. But Lester and Sumitra did more than just direct, edit, or produce films. Even if you discount the significance of those films that they are among the best in this country - their contribution remains pivotal in other respects.

There are so many words one can use in describing the Perieses and their colleagues and contemporaries, and of them the most fitting would have to be "eclectic." When I talked with the late Sugathapala Senarath Yapa in 2014 - a decade ago - I was struck by how diverse his interests were, even from an early age. Today, with the mass commodification of knowledge, with instant access to information, with the rise of an iPhone film culture, it is easy to overlook how difficult it was for someone like Yapa, who hailed from a lower middle-class rural background, to become a critically lauded director.

The Perieses occupied a different social terrain. They were not exactly scions of the colonial bourgeoisie, but by the standards of a majority of their countrymen, they were well off. This enabled them to tide over the difficulties of making films in Sri Lanka: they did not have to suffer the privations that the likes of Senarath Yapa did. They made good use of what they had and saw through a revolution in the arts. One could say the same of Lionel Wendt, Justin Deraniyagala, Miriam Pieris - that their background made it possible for them to question norms and carry forward the work of their predecessors, even if, as Ian Goonetilleke wrote, their lack of awareness of the local culture handicapped them.