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Global
- The
production
“Mas Man” is
one that
should be
introduced
and featured
at film
festivals
worldwide.
After all,
this
chronicles a
man whose
works and
creativity
have been
the visions
which
entranced
international
audiences
over the
years,
including at
the 48th
annual Miss
Universe
pageant, and
when more
than eighty
percent of
the world’s
population
was encamped
around their
television
sets for the
full opening
ceremonies
of no less
than three
Olympics
(1992
Barcelona,
1996 Atlanta
and 2002
Salt Lake
City).
The
magnificence
and
challenges
of the games
that were
about to
unfold for
two weeks -
were
envisioned
and launched
via the mind
of Peter
Minshall as
the opening
ceremonies’
Artistic
Director.
Acclaimed
Carnival
artist
Peter
Minshall
But as much
as he has
been
internationally
heralded,
Peter
Minshall has
always
returned
home, to
where his
heart is.
And it is
against this
backdrop
that much of
Mas Man the
film,
unfolds.
Mas Man is
far more
than an
outstanding
documentary
film about a
great,
internationally-acclaimed,
award-winning,
multi-talented
artist named
Peter
Minshall,
who,
incidentally
is one of
the best in
the world at
what he
does.
This
production
goes further
and
essentially
provides a
successful
definition
of the
question
“what is
this art
form called
‘Mas’?”
In the study
and
highlighting
of the
genius of
Minshall,
we, the
audience,
are afforded
a glimpse
into the
very
obsession
that
Minshall
himself
expounds to
be far
greater than
him, or any
individual -
“The Mas.”
“...Mas
is about
taking
the
essence
of a
people
and
processing
it in
such a
way that
you can
represent
it in a
forum
that
has not
existed
before,
but
which
the
people
will
immediately
recognize
- And
lets
them
(the
people)
see
themselves
and
understand
their
own
essence.”
-
Todd
Gulick
The film,
Mas Man,
opens with
the
strategic
positioning
of Todd
Gulick,
managing
director of
the Callaloo
Company,
explaining
what is
‘Mas.’
The
comprehension
of what is
Mas is a
critical
component to
the
understanding
of what
makes up
this complex
character
that is
Peter
Minshall.
Mas Man goes
a long way
towards
successfully
allowing the
audience to
feel the
passion for
the art form
that burns
within
Minshall,
and the
raging
indignation
and contempt
he holds for
those who
would
denigrate
the art form
by design,
ignorance
and/or lack
of talent -
for mere
profit.
For
Minshall, in
denigrating
the Mas, one
demeans and
severs the
continuity
of a story,
heritage and
life of a
people.
Life is art
- art is
life.
Visions
from
Minshall’s
1982
Carnival
presentation
‘Papillon’
And there
lies the
brilliance
of this
documentary
film
produced and
directed by
film maker,
(and
steelpan
historian
and pan man)
Dalton
Narine; by
Minshall
allowing
this
selfless
examination
of his life
work and to
a certain
extent, his
philosophies
and beliefs.
We, the
viewers
leave with a
better
understanding
and
appreciation
of ourselves
- and the
dynamics of
life -
through art
and culture.
Indeed,
Minshall is
Trinidadian
and the
stories he
tells
through his
creations
are those of
Trinidad &
Tobago, but
the themes
of
self-examination,
self-empowerment,
epic battles
between good
and evil,
and
realization
of beauty
through art
- are
universal
concepts and
needs that
everyone can
identify
with and
relate to.
From
Paradise
Lost (1976)
to The
Sacred Heart
(2006),
Peter
Minshall has
had a
special love
affair with
the people
of Trinidad
and Tobago
through his
Carnival
productions.
Minshall
himself says
in this film
that:
“....real
art was
being
made
all
around
me...the
real art
is
literally
emerging
from the
streets
- Mas is
a
powerful,
communicative
expression
of the
spiritual
and
physical
energy
of human
beings,
and that
is as
good a
definition
of Art
as you
will get
anywhere.
Mas is a
combination
of
music,
dance
and
sculpture
and
painting.
It
communicates
with
gesture
and
movements.
It is
danced.
It is
played.
And then
to
double
up the
emphasis
and to
say - ‘I
goin’ to
play a
Mas!’ -
cannot
reduce
that to
a few
feathers
and
beads
and a
little
bourgeois
jump-up,
and when
it gets
too hot,
you go
under
the
sprinkler!” -
Peter
Minshall
Narine
brilliantly
captures and
essentially
televises
the essence
of
Minshall’s
significance
- and by
extension,
the
greatness of
the Trinidad
& Tobago Mas
art form.
It is
accomplished
through a
series of
personal
interviews
and
testimonies
with Mas
Man,
reflective
stories by
those who
have worked
closely with
him, and
images and
video clips
of
Minshall’s
works.
In fact,
there is no
narrator.
Narine lets
Minshall
himself, his
work and
those close
to him-
do all the
talking.
Film maker
Narine
cleverly
allows the
lead
protagonist
of this
documentary
to be the
‘work’
itself (the
genius and
artistic
expression)
of Minshall
- which is
consistent,
with
Minshall’s
philosophies
and own
approach to
his
productions.
Self-examination,
the magic
and depth of
Trinidad &
Tobago
culture,
both
figuratively
and
literally,
and of
course the
epic battles
between good
and evil -
are central
themes to
Minshall’s
works.
Narine
adequately
documents
both
artistic and
“cerebral”
growth by
examining
Minshall’s
influences
and Trinidad
& Tobago’s
Carnival
works from
year to
year.
Visions
from
Minshall’s
“Papillon”
creation
Mas Man
shows how
Minshall,
through the
artistry of
his Mas
presentations,
speaks for
the common
man, the
voiceless
and the
disadvantaged.
Minshall
clearly
understands
the enormity
of the art
form - its
socio-political
and
spiritual
contexts and
ramifications
- as did
other
nationals of
his country
who, too,
have created
genius
works.
The steelpan
music
arrangements
of Clive
Bradley, the
writings of
the
country’s
first prime
minister
Eric
Williams,
the steelpan
innovations
and
inventions
of Anthony
Williams and
Bertie
Marshall
- are some
that
immediately
come to
mind.
In addition,
Dalton
Narine,
through Mas
Man and in
Minshall,
was able to
quantify
that ‘thing’
which
defines the
context for
greatness -
the ability
to produce
excellent
works that
have global
outreach,
appreciation
and
implications,
and that
capacity to
do it again
and again,
and the
courage to
embrace and
express in
those works,
one’s
traditions -
without
apology.
Mas - “It’s
like theater
but it is
not
scripted,
per say...
It has very
powerful
visual
elements
almost
always, even
if it is
down to the
naked body.
Mas
necessarily
implies
performance
- you cannot
have a mas
without
performance
it is a
performance
art...” -
Todd Gulick
In Mas Man
we see
Minshall
exhorting,
almost
pleading
with his
supporters,
masqueraders,
and viewers
of his work
(especially
the latter),
to recognize
that through
their own
history and
very
present-day
existence,
that there
is regal
greatness in
they
themselves,
and that
aspect
cannot be
denied,
granted, or
bestowed.
Minshall is
essentially
saying “it’s
an innate
part of your
DNA and
heritage -
which starts
by
recognizing
that
greatness.”
Moreover,
when you
participate
in “Mas” you
embrace that
part of you.
Mas is life
and one of
the highest
forms of
human
expression.
Conclusion:
Peter
Minshall is
an artistic
genius.
His
creativity
and
productivity
are
unquestioned,
unchallenged
and
unparalleled.
His place is
in the
annals of
high theater
- for the
people, by
the people -
the telling
of their
stories is
assured.
Dalton Narine
was able to
capture the
importance of
this individual.
He was able to
put together a
production
through Mas Man,
that showcases
the mindset of
the man -
through
Minshall’s own
words, but even
more importantly
through the
words of the
people affected
by his work -
the audience,
the craftsmen,
the performers,
his peers.
Acclaimed
Carnival
artist
Peter
Minshall
Minshall,
like other
great
artists of
Trinidad and
Tobago - is
unabashedly
and
unapologetically
aware of the
presence,
richness and
legacy of
the
country’s
history,
arts and
culture.
He is proud,
but
cognizant
and
remorseful
for the
current
unimaginative
and
sometimes
ignorant
group of mas
promoters
and their
prevalence. In
the words of
Minshall,
Mas cannot
be “reduced
to feathers
and beads.”
Minshall is
a Trinidad
and Tobago
treasure,
who
understands
the value of
those Mas
creators who
came before
him, but he
is also very
conscious of
his own
contributions
to that
legacy.
Mas
Man’s
film
director,
pan man
and
steelpan
historian
- Dalton
Narinee
Film maker
Dalton Narine
was able to
successfully
bring the
contradictions,
modesty, denial
of
self-importance
coupled with the
necessary
arrogance of
Minshall, to the
big screen
through Mas Man.
Mas Man shows
Minshall found a
way to express
that which was
already
exploding within
him.
Furthermore,
through his
artistry,
creativity and
the embodiment
of same through
and by his
legions of
faithful
masqueraders,
Minshall time
and again
articulated with
all its
contradictions,
the social
landscape around
him and his
people, both on
the national and
global scale -
for the eyes of
the beholders.
As the film
maker,
Dalton
Narine is
not cowed by
and is
unafraid of,
the
magnificence
of the
creativity
of the Mas
Man himself,
Peter
Minshall,
and
deliberately
goes about
the
expression
and
celebration
of
Minshall’s
life’s work
to date,
without
diminishing
the man
himself in
any way, but
maintaining
the full
‘glare’ of
the
spotlight on
the subject
matter
itself - the
work of
Peter
Minshall.
What we see,
and more
importantly
what we
learn or
leave with
from the
production,
is directly
attributed
to director
Dalton
Narine.
And in this
light Narine
has put
together a
winner..
Director Narine
has done a
masterful job.
He is a man with
the confidence,
depth of
knowledge, and
vastness of
experiences to
adequately pull
this off.
And Emmy Award
winner Peter
Minshall,
himself, is
about unbridled
passion; insane
commitment;
courage;
exuberance; a
continuous quest
for knowledge;
giving voice to
truth; feeding
that insatiable
global thirst
for excellence;
and bettering of
the human
condition.
All this is
captured in “Mas
Man,” by a Pan
Man -
director
Dalton
Narine.
More on Mas Man,
the movie -
MasManTheMovie.com.
Highlights
of
Mas Man’s
New York
screening
Contact
Dalton
Narine -
narine67@bellsouth.net
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