Guerilla Blues and Holy Ghosts. So says the title of Aryan Kaganof’s film. An attractive name for an artistic piece. One that hints the work could be a spiritual affair, at least before one sits down to view it. I watch the film eventually, encounter the spirit and more; including religious allusions and the relationship human beings have with the super natural world. There’s also a reflection on how the psychological and spiritual manifestation take form through the arts. This film documents the battles, frustrations and ultimate joys experienced by those who set out to find their self worth and establish a more meaningful relationship with The Higher Being. The consequence of such a journey is one that may change the cause of one’s entire life journey for the better.
Spiritual reflections happen on many levels and at different times. Some of these experiences are deeper than others. But they all matter because they become cathartic resolves, epiphanies that may give living souls new identities and fresh ways of looking at and doing things. This thought takes one back to one’s recent experience of the Karoo inside the comfort of the train that was heading back to Cape Town. The bareness of the wilderness was absolutely captivating; as if one had never seen it before. The strange beauty of the landscapes; the seemingly eternal lifelessness of space and all that out to be part of it, engineered a process into which one fell. This process was aided by one’s absorption of the meagre vegetation of the Karoo, unkempt shrubs that seemed as dead as the pebbled soil of those plains. This led one into a brief spiritual realm. Once there, serious resolves about what has been and what lay ahead were done. These resolves related to one’s conduct and one’s artistic expressions – on how one could better them.
These kinds of reflections are almost and always inclusive of that being that lives in spirit; that which we speculate and hypothesise around with so much conviction. Some call Him God and others Allah, among various names. These speculations only amplify the great wonder that burdens this earth and its people – the initial absence of insight; the need to know and understand! We seek the light, an understanding that would elevate us to a privileged position of knowing and acting according to that knowledge. Many people seek answers, some mere understanding. Others don’t even bother with all the enigmas and intricacies of the world and its spiritual forms. But some people, those who find their peace in the midst of these bewilderments, like poet Gylan Kain, simplify these experiences through various accounts, conversations and poetry.
Kaganof’s film is anchored on sturdy columns of poetry and music. Call the music jazz – live. The backdrop is the church. There’s a recurring image of a travelling man seated in a car, a possible motif of the film. The traveller’s journey, Kain’s, like many persons’, highlights the relationships people have with the church. People walk in and out of church. Some walk out never to come back to that which is the source of good morality and serves as a rendezvous with the Higher Being. Others stray away from the church only to rediscover the essence of their connection to the Higher Power on their own.
Kain takes the viewer through his vivid personal journeys as a poet, as an artist and as a man with a keen sense of spiritual belief. It is revealed that the poet has had three significant births: natural, spiritual and psychological or artistic. His experience with the Holy Ghost is also documented, including the formation and disbandment of The Last Poets, the group he co-founded with Abiodun Oyewole, David Nelson and Felipe Luciano, with the assistance of Elijah, the drummer. The film also reveals how Umar Bin Hassan and Jalal Nurridin subsequently became members of the group. Through use of poetry, Kain examines issues of spiritual manifestations. He laments the early deaths of Jesus Christ, Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jnr. He also bemoans the ills of our world, from politics to pimps – he celebrates greats such as John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Nina Simone and Toni Morrison to name but a few.
Kain’s first experience of the Holy Ghost happens at a tender age of ten in the church. In the experience he sees God appearing above him winking. He carries this experience with him for his whole life due to its profoundness. The poet’s experience of the Holy Ghost confirms the importance of the church as a fundamental source of good morality. At the same time, this development also suggests that extensive religious literature may not necessarily be the sole means through which one may be encounter a Godly experience. The poet was only ten and had a limited understanding of worldly things, including spiritual manifestations. This point also suggests that a spiritual encounter is a highly personal experience, which would be felt and understood differently by each person.
The second birth happens when the poet is twenty three years old. This is around the time he is trying to distance himself from the notion of God. As a result, he changes his name to Kain, a name derived from a biblical figure known as Cain; the man known to be the first murderer through slaying his brother, Abel.
Kain’s third birth, the psychological and artistic one happens much later in his life; at thirty to be precise. The consequence of this particular birth leads to the penning of two of his profound pieces, Turner and Ask me How I feel and I’ll Tell you the Stupid Truth, which are both very honest and brave pieces. These developments, together with other aspects of Kain’s life as a black man in America, show that he's a “travelling man” in search of truths. These travels encompass all aspects of the poet’s life and relationships, but more so Kain’s spiritual, psychological and artistic life. The results of how far he has travelled are reflected in the poet's perspectives and insights, his eloquence and the perfection he’s reached with his art.
Spiritual manifestations. A life of Holy Ghosts. A journey through which these complexities may be explained for the incredulous souls. Art, performance art used as an intervention; the carrier of messages and experiences that could be best articulated through poetic expressions as in this case. The piece, Turner, carries this essence. Here Kain’s revelations through a performance blur the lines between performance and spontaneous developments.
He’s lying on the floor while rendering the piece, sweat pouring from his face. He jerks and shouts; he’s possessed! Or so it seems. The words come out clear and candid from his mouth. They are sharp and confessional, it seems. His expressions carry distinct authority, commands absolute attention from the viewer. Perhaps this is due to him having assimilated his past experiences so well that they come out this powerful. But like a balm soothing the starkness of Kain’s words, the music becomes a saturated consolation, a carrier of hope. Thus the poet wins my empathy. Turner seals the whole thing.
The disbandment of The Last Poets does not help Kain’s journey very much in the beginning. Hence he loses interest in many things after this episode.
“In that situation, someone threatening to kill my family, you know, as well as myself... it was a very deep centred disillusionment, you know, at that point for me, you know, in terms of what was operating... it started that process by which I finally ended up moving away from the nationalist movement, going to a personal place with myself, ending up with baby Kain,” reveals the poet in an interview incorporated into the film.
One wishes that Oyewole and Bin Hassan, both whom are interviewed about the disbandment of The Last Poets, could give their account on what Kain says of the assault he suffered at the hands of some members of the group. But the film doesn't have that part.
After all the challenges life threw at Kain, he rises again and continues his journey. The film further touches on how the name, The Last Poets, came about. Through this revelation, the notion that the group’s name came from Keorapetse “Willie” Kgositsile’s poem is declared to be apocryphal. However, Kain acknowledges Kgositsile’s inspiration to the group. In fact it is this very inspiration that led Nelson to read a piece he wrote to the group, which incidentally had the words, the last poets.
Stylistically, the visuals are grainy – sepia and monochrome being preferred colours of presentation. Not a bad choice, especially with the subject matter under the spotlight being so heavy. The sound, especially the poetic pieces in the background as visuals tell a story, is adequately distanced. The sound becomes immediate and direct in the many live performance pieces the poet renders with a band.
Kain’s poetic experiences qualify the saying that life re-invents itself. There are moments when we feel our lives have reached a plateau. Often, this is when it feels like nothing more profound or revealing may arise from us. It is when there’s a lull that inevitably leads to a place of personal confrontation, a soul reflecting on its spiritual journey. At this point the soul usually reinvents itself, at least if one surrenders to that which we describe in various ways; that which its truth is unmistakable. Inevitably, thoughts around the Supreme Being emerge and take over one’s worldliness and enamour him or her with a spirit much greater than any physical force. And this is when we reach a higher plain of consciousness of our talents and abilities to create. Perhaps it’s at this point that some may claim victory.
What becomes of the self after this may never be the same as before. Equally so, if one fails to comprehend the demands of that experience, the soul may stray further away from that spirit that may usher in enormous changes to one’s soul. The language of that experience may be unintelligible and daunting at times. But with time and effort in trying to understand it, becomes as clear as the daylight – like Kain’s journeys and works, it manifests.
As the film nears the end, the poet says the following:
“We’re crying for our self worth all our whole lives. Any moment we don’t have it we’re crying for it because it’s the only place we’re already alive.”
Indeed! A self worth is discovered in our journeys, our wonderings that grow in many ways.
Deon-Simphiwe Skade
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