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Amber Marks sees her father's life on film in 'Mr Nice'
The life of Howard Marks, drugs smuggler-turned-raconteur, has been turned into ‘Mr Nice’, a film by Bernard Rose that stars Rhys Ifans. It had its premiere at Texas’s South by Southwest festival last week, but with Marks banned from entering the US, his daughter Amber Marks headed there instead. Here she recalls seeing her dad’s life on film for the first time
The world premiere of ‘Mr Nice’ took place last week in Austin, Texas as part of the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival. My father Howard Marks, the film’s subject and author of the memoir on which the film is based, is not allowed to set foot in the US because of his conviction for cannabis smuggling. In his place, Rhys Ifans and Chloë Sevigny, who play my father and mother, both travel to the festival, along with the film’s director, Bernard Rose, and producer, Luc Roeg. I go along with them for the ride.It’s hard to believe the film is ready. Ever since the book ‘Mr Nice’ became a bestseller in 1996, someone has been on the verge of making it. Hundreds of interested parties contacted dad. Scripts were written, sums of money promised and drunken meetings enjoyed. Possible players included directors Oliver Stone, Franc Roddam (‘Quadrophenia’) and Justin Kerrigan (‘Human Traffic’), actors Sean Penn, Daniel Day-Lewis and Woody Harrelson, and even writer Hunter S Thompson.
Nothing came of it. The usual explanation was the reluctance of the BBC to reap or relinquish the TV rights which dad sold to the corporation in 1997. Although he retained the film rights, a legal minefield still stood in the way of any movie. Convinced no film would be made, he handed over his remaining rights to James Perkins, the founder of the Fantazia music label, for a nominal fee of £1. Perkins, with the help of Luc Roeg (the son of ‘Performance’ director Nicholas), eventually succeeded in wrestling the TV rights from the BBC. Bernard Rose (‘Candyman’, ‘Ivans XTC’) wrote the screenplay without any input from Howard, though borrowing heavily from dialogue in his book and jokes from Howard’s stand-up shows. Filming started in February 2009 and wrapped in two months. The heart of Texas was not where dad expected the film to have its first screening.
And SXSW is not how I imagined a film festival: there is no pretension to it whatsoever. Rhys describes the atmosphere as ‘down and dirty and rock ’n’ roll’ and the red carpet as ‘more of a rug, really’. He likes it. It means he can wear his own clothes ‘rather than some Italian designer’. He and I share a cigarette before the screening and he’s as nervous as me. My dad is his hero and he wants the film to go down well. A kid approaches us for a cigarette and we tell her what we’re doing in Austin. She nods and says the city is becoming the next Hollywood: ‘But we’re gonna do it better here,’ she says. ‘Because that place sucks giant donkey cock.’
The theatre is packed out, despite few ever having heard of Howard Marks (his autobiography didn’t have much of a life in the US). The SXSW director introduces the movie as her favourite of the festival and we crack open beers in readiness for the ride. It’s obvious from the film’s opening scene – a 12-year-old boy played by Ifans getting beaten up on a rugby field – that dad has not been given a Hollywood upgrade. He is a complicated man and no film could capture all of him. Rose has chosen to focus on his most entertaining persona: intelligent, opportunistic Welsh buffoon.
The audience loved it; they laughed loudly at the jokes, adored David Thewlis’s brilliant portrayal of self-proclaimed IRA freedom fighter Jim McCann, wept when the DEA busted our home and groaned as dad’s teeth were pulled out by prison dentists in Terre Haute Penitentiary.
Close readers of the book will notice inaccuracies in the film. For one, the film suggests that dad grassed up McCann to the US authorities, when in fact McCann is a free man today on account of his refusal to do so. But to be fair to Rose, the source book spans several decades; there is too much to include in one film. As a result, the Old Bailey court scene, one of the most dramatic and widely reported in its era, may disappoint some. We miss out on the audacious advocacy of his barrister, Lord Hutchinson (famed for his role in the ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’ obscenity trial), but at least the defence testimony from an alleged Mexican spy has the audience in stitches.
Visually, the film is a riot. The use of green-screen allows us to see Ifans mixed with original footage of Karachi street bazaars of the 1980s, Piccadily Circus in 1969 and even footage of Heathrow in the 1970s. The beginning of the film is black and white. Oxford in the 1960s goes widescreen and when dad takes a drag on his first spliff, the film goes into garish colour. The 1970s are shot with a handheld camera (fastened around the director’s waist) and the 1990s invite a more slick style, complete with helicopter shots.
There’s one scene in which McCann receives oral sex while watching a porn film that shows a young woman being sexually assaulted by a pig. Such is Rose’s attention to detail that he made a separate film – a pig porn film – to show within the movie. He shot it on digital video before transferring it to Super 8 for projection in McCann’s cottage on the set. Did Rose, I ask, not want to search through the archive of vintage animal porn instead? No, he explains, he wouldn’t have minded doing so, but he needed to show something that wasn’t offensive. As it is, the scene is grotesque enough to make the audience moan and the producers were probably right to ask Rose to shorten its running time.
The rumour is that the UK premiere will take place at Edinburgh. It will be interesting to see what British audiences make of it. It is impossible for me to judge this film objectively. But to my mind the film does an excellent job of illustrating the history and absurdity of the war on drugs. It’s a lighthearted and entertaining gallop through my dad’s life so far.
Amber Marks is the author of ‘Headspace: Sniffer Dogs, Spy Bees and One Woman’s Adventures in the Surveillance Society’.
‘Mr Nice’ opens later this year.
User comments on this story
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- Rob said...
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Biggest Canna smuggler in the world and only serves 7 years in America where they have draconian laws? He's clearly a scum-of-the-earth SNITCH.
Not that anyone should serve ANY time for growing/smoking/distributing what is essentially a harmless plant with huge medical benefits. However SNITCHES should be put against the wall and shot. Posted on May 18 2011 16:12 - Report as inappropriate
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- donal said...
- there should be no laws regarding personal freedom. check out rick simpson's hemp oil for cancer cure. Posted on Oct 14 2010 02:33
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- BunduBoy said...
- Howard Marks never was and never will be "a lovely man," Terry. Like all drug-runners, he should have been given a lethal injection as punishment for the misery his trade caused. Posted on Oct 13 2010 18:44
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- notforpub said...
- my teen's messing about..please remove comment, thanks Posted on Sep 05 2010 08:11
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- de jonke said...
- And they say fmovies distort reality. I wonder where some of the comments come from. A snitch? Says who? A tosspot? Who' the \Mr Perfect throwing sones? Good luck to pappa and daughter and ilook forward to the films UK release. Posted on Sep 05 2010 08:01
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- de jonke said...
- some of above the commentaors seem to have a poor grasp of whats real and whats not? A snitch? Says who? A tosspot? Who's the mr perfect? Good luck to pappa, daughter and fre spirits everyplace. I look forward to the films UK release Posted on Sep 05 2010 07:53
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- John Lambert said...
- Whats with all the "selfish" "tosser" bla bla,the only selfish tossers are the the people who make the stupid rules in this,and most other countries taking away our rights and trying to leave us with only one drug to use,THEIR drug,ALCOHOL! Posted on Sep 03 2010 11:39
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- JImpan 45 said...
- James if you had Howards intelligence the you would be the toss-pot. How did you do in university prabably a tosser. If you even made it!!! Posted on May 28 2010 08:33
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- neil mo said...
- Just wont go away will it, WEED IS HERE TO STAY! Extinction is not the right of mankind... Posted on May 12 2010 04:58
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- jim jimpan said...
- I,ve read all howards books inclusive his wifes. Such good reading. Sorry Sahra for your comments as I understand you dont have Howards intelligence. Cant wait to see the film. Great, Great, Great!!! Posted on May 07 2010 18:55
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- sarah said...
- Sorry, the guy is a boring old arsehole. What he put his family through is unforgivable. Why is he so great? He was a grass, not a succesful smuggler, and is so arrogant its untrue. Posted on May 03 2010 18:14
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- Susan said...
- Wow! Great article. Looks like a great film. Don't see any reason for the negative comments on here. I can understand why she did not mention her mother's book, I mean the movie is called Mr Nice, it makes sense for her to write about him. Can't believe anyone even thought of that. Can't wait to see the movie. Mr Nice is a legend. Good for you both, father and daughter. Oh and hey, the fact you love him is wonderful, some people are just twisted, and can't see respect for what it is! I salute you! Posted on Apr 16 2010 10:32
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- Henry said...
- The film is also based on her mother's book. "Mr Nice and Mrs Marks". Why does she not mention this? Sounds like she has some Oedipus Complex. Noticed this before in an interview she did in the Daily Telegraph. She should remember who brought her up. Her father can't have cared that much about them to have put the family through all that he did. Hero, no, selfish man more like Posted on Apr 15 2010 11:15
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- Andy said...
- Great article, really looking forward to watching the film. Your Dad is a legend. P.S James you appear to be a bit f**ked up Posted on Apr 02 2010 15:44
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- Terry said...
- Met Howard Marks in Newcastle last night, what a lovely man,just finished reading Mr.nice for 1st time,fantastic read, can't wait to see the film Posted on Apr 02 2010 15:29
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