'We all live in our own movie': Brother director Clement Virgo on why he's getting personal in his films
The film, based on the novel by David Chariandy, has 14 nominations at the Canadian Screen Awards
You may not have heard of Clement Virgo, but the veteran Canadian film director has worked on some of the most critically acclaimed television shows of the 2000s.
From The Book of Negroes to Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, Virgo's filmography is littered with hits. His direction in The Wire is still a talking point amongst fans — including a famous five-minute scene from Season 1 in which two detectives communicate only using the word "f–k" as they investigate a crime scene.
While he has a storied history directing episodes of shows that are not his own, Virgo's feature films, including Rude and Love Come Down, have had a significant impact on Canadian cinema. But his latest project, Brother, feels like his most personal yet. Adapted from the critically acclaimed book of the same name by David Chariandy, the film is celebratory, melancholic and poetic all at once.
"It just spoke to me on a kind of visceral level," Virgo told Q's Tom Power. "There was a time where I was doing a lot of television, I was doing a lot of work that wasn't my own, and I wanted to get back to making my own work."
WATCH | Clement Virgo's interview with Tom Power:
The screenplay was written by Virgo and tells the story of two brothers navigating life as the child of immigrants in Scarborough, Ont.
Virgo moved to Canada from Jamaica as a child, and felt that the book reflected his own experiences.
In a moving conversation with Power, Virgo reflected on Brother, his first feature since 2007's Poor Boy's Game, as well as his long career. Here are some highlights from their conversation.
Representation in cinema
Virgo is one of the founders of Black Screen Office, an organization that advocates for the advancement of Black Canadian screen professionals.
He said that while there's been progress in the promotion of Black-led content since his career began in the 1990s, there's still room for diversity in terms of who's leading the film industry.
"The Black Screen Office is a way to advocate, to lobby, to highlight these young Black filmmakers who were the next generation," he said.
"I think there's still space in terms of just who makes decisions about what is seen orwhat's getting made. I think there's still work to be done."
Directing grief
As a director, Virgo said that one of his primary motivations is to craft scenes that feel real and create a universal feeling amongst his audience.
"We all live in our own movie, and we all think, 'I'm the only person who has ever felt grief, and the only person who has ever felt pain or loss or love,'" he said. "What's great about stories and movies and art is that it is mirrored back to you."
Brother is full of gut-wrenching depictions of grief, and Virgo shared some questions he asks himself that help determine whether a scene is working.
"Does it feel real? Does it feel like it's the right place to be in the movie?" he said. "A movie, in my head, is almost like a musical piece, where I'm thinking about the highs and lows — I'm thinking about the high notes, I'm thinking about the low notes, I'm thinking about the melody."
Even when directing material that didn't begin as his own, Virgo said that being able to empathize is crucial. When working on The Wire, he was able to understand something of the legendary show's premise — life on the streets of Baltimore — despite not having direct experience with it.
"Even though I wasn't from Baltimore, I knew the world because I grew up in that kind of environment," said Virgo, referring to his childhood in Toronto's Regent Park neighbourhood. "It wasn't something that I was surprised by."
Pride in family
As with a lot of Virgo's works, Brother has been receiving near-universal acclaim since its screening at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. But the most poignant praise has come from the director's mother.
"I remember when I showed her The Book of Negroes for the first time she said, 'That's why I brought you to Canada," he told Power.
The full interview with Clement Virgo is available on our podcast, Q with Tom Power. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Interview with Clement Virgo produced by Mitch Pollock.
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