Remember a Day (2000 film)
Encyclopedia
Remember a Day is a low-budget film made in 2000 and inspired by an original story by Bernard White (an aficionado on Syd Barrett
). The film depicts Roger Bannerman, a former rock star, now fading into obscurity and becoming a recluse. Darryl Read
plays Bannerman and also produced the film.
founder-member Syd Barrett
. Despite having effectively retired from the music business, Bannerman is being stalked by an unhinged fan (Zoot Money) who's determined to 're-launch' Bannerman's career no matter what it takes, legal or illegal. Laced with black humour, drugs, psychedelic imagery, groupie sex and a soundtrack featuring Rick Wright, Captain Beefheart
and The Edgar Broughton Band. Remember a Day is an early seventies period piece shot by the people who's story it essentially is.
As filming commenced on a mere £12,000, the storyline became more complex and elongated, with additional scenes added daily by White and Read who wrote in sequences based on fact, but altered to fit into the films structure symbolically, culminating in a multi-layered screenplay. Actors such as Peter Jenner
(the original manager of Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd
) threw their hand in for free. Jamie Foreman
played The Producer for his cab fares, as did Jenny Fabian. Zoot Money
plays a stalking fan, who intends to get Bannerman to record again at any cost.
As the production spread into weeks, cast and crew all worked extra shifts, as Read used ordinary people as actors, who looked the part, and subsequently became the role, as did the great Federico Fellini
whom Read was influenced by in the shooting of the film.
The production ran into luck as an offer of editing facilities came in whilst the cast and crew were still filming. Read was able to cull a cool underground piece, through the help of Frontline editing facilities in Covent Garden
. Charlie Sayle at Frontline made sure the works were tended to with their best facilities. Read editted the film alongside Jason Kraszuki and Martin Strike. Incidental music was produced by Darryl Read and Dave Goodman
(who had been the original Sex Pistols
producer and sound man). The tagline on the films poster is:He's Going Far Further Than You Could Ever Imagine.
The film was mainly shot in Hampstead
and Crystal Palace
in south-east London and surrounds. One location was a pub where Pink Floyd
had played in the 1960s, and the Fan's studio/shrine was Dave Goodman
's own small basement studio. The crew were just able to squeeze in for sequences, because the studio had an exit onto the garden. The overall effect of these studio sequences worked as the producer Darryl Read
wanted a claustrophobic atmosphere - in which the Fan entraps Bannerman, to try and get him to record again.
John Shann did the principle lighting/camerawork and Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon filmed raw documentary style footage. Tracey Bassim, who was given the job in a cafe on the first days filming, started immediately, and doubled as makeup and wardrobe supervisor. All cast and crew worked overtime and extra days for free, and the film never seemed to wrap. Everyone was under the impression on several end of shoot days, that that was it, only to find they were summoned back the following week for more. The production was also surrounded in mystery, as no one, apart from White and Read, knew what the storyline was about. It was, however, Read's intention to keep it that way, to create a natural spontaneity in performances.
was written by Rick Wright and rights were granted to the production by Rick Wright himself through Bernard White. Darryl Read had heard the track bleeding through playback speakers on the shoot, and in the editing of the film, heard it again, in the background on some concert footage sequence takes, and decided that that would be the film title. White immediately set about contacting Wright, whom he knew, for the rights. The song opens and closes the film, and the instrumental version is played over the end credits.
Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett , born Roger Keith Barrett, was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and painter, best remembered as a founding member of the band Pink Floyd. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter during the band's psychedelic years, providing major musical and stylistic...
). The film depicts Roger Bannerman, a former rock star, now fading into obscurity and becoming a recluse. Darryl Read
Darryl Read
Darryl Read is a British poet, singer, guitarist, drummer, actor, and writer. Read is among the forerunners of punk rock...
plays Bannerman and also produced the film.
Plot
Remember a Day follows the acid excesses of Roger Bannerman (Darryl Read) a late 1960s rock star turned recluse, a man ...going far further than you ever could imagine. Bannerman's character is similar to Pink FloydPink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
founder-member Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett , born Roger Keith Barrett, was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and painter, best remembered as a founding member of the band Pink Floyd. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter during the band's psychedelic years, providing major musical and stylistic...
. Despite having effectively retired from the music business, Bannerman is being stalked by an unhinged fan (Zoot Money) who's determined to 're-launch' Bannerman's career no matter what it takes, legal or illegal. Laced with black humour, drugs, psychedelic imagery, groupie sex and a soundtrack featuring Rick Wright, Captain Beefheart
Captain Beefheart
Don Van Vliet January 15, 1941 December 17, 2010) was an American musician, singer-songwriter and artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. His musical work was conducted with a rotating ensemble of musicians called The Magic Band, active between 1965 and 1982, with whom he recorded 12...
and The Edgar Broughton Band. Remember a Day is an early seventies period piece shot by the people who's story it essentially is.
Cast
- Darryl ReadDarryl ReadDarryl Read is a British poet, singer, guitarist, drummer, actor, and writer. Read is among the forerunners of punk rock...
as Roger Bannerman - Zoot MoneyZoot MoneyGeorge Bruno Money, known as Zoot Money is a British vocalist, keyboardist and bandleader best known for his playing of the Hammond organ and association with his Big Roll Band...
as The Fan - Jamie ForemanJamie ForemanJamie Foreman is an English actor best known for his roles as Duke in Layer Cake and Bill Sikes in Roman Polanski's Oliver Twist . He played opposite Ray Winstone and Kathy Burke in Gary Oldman's Nil by Mouth and also featured in Elizabeth , Gangster No. 1 and Sleepy Hollow...
as The Record Producer - Jenny Fabian as Lady Jane Mandel
- Peter JennerPeter JennerPeter Jenner is a British music manager and a record producer. Jenner, Andrew King and the original four members of Pink Floyd were partners in Blackhill Enterprises.- Early career :...
as The Manager - Alison Thomson as The Girlfriend
- Jon MossJon MossJon Moss is an English drummer best known as a member of the 1980s pop group Culture Club. He has also played with other bands, including London, The Nips and The Damned.-Early life:...
as The American Manager - Charlie Harper as The Punk
- Ronnie CarrollRonnie CarrollRonnie Carroll is a Northern Irish singer and entertainer.-Career:...
as The Barman - Talitha Tallett as Groupie 1
- Lynne Jackaman as The Acid Girl
- Dave GoodmanDave GoodmanDave Goodman was a record producer and musician, perhaps best known as the live sound engineer for Sex Pistols, and the producer of three of their studio demo sessions.-Sex Pistols:...
as The Mime Troupe Leader - Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon as The Interviewer
- Nella Barker as Rock Chick 1
- John Brett as Mime Troupe Artist
- Billy Carter as The Photograher
- Ami Flynn as Rock Chick 2
- Eric Graham as The American Bodyguard
- Bob Hurley as The Boatman
- Poppy Lefond as Mime Troupe Artist
- Kathy Manuell as Mime Troupe Artist
- Kevin McCray as The Angry Fan
- Ben Mole as The Electrix drummer
- Finn Panton as The Electrix keyboards
- Kristine Pilgaarde as Groupie 2
- Eiana Taub as Street Lady fan
- Lloyd Walford as The Studio Engineer
Production
When the original producer dropped out Darryl Read was asked to produce the film, which was originally intended as a 20-minute short. Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon (a one-time friend of Syd Barrett) directed the film.As filming commenced on a mere £12,000, the storyline became more complex and elongated, with additional scenes added daily by White and Read who wrote in sequences based on fact, but altered to fit into the films structure symbolically, culminating in a multi-layered screenplay. Actors such as Peter Jenner
Peter Jenner
Peter Jenner is a British music manager and a record producer. Jenner, Andrew King and the original four members of Pink Floyd were partners in Blackhill Enterprises.- Early career :...
(the original manager of Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
) threw their hand in for free. Jamie Foreman
Jamie Foreman
Jamie Foreman is an English actor best known for his roles as Duke in Layer Cake and Bill Sikes in Roman Polanski's Oliver Twist . He played opposite Ray Winstone and Kathy Burke in Gary Oldman's Nil by Mouth and also featured in Elizabeth , Gangster No. 1 and Sleepy Hollow...
played The Producer for his cab fares, as did Jenny Fabian. Zoot Money
Zoot Money
George Bruno Money, known as Zoot Money is a British vocalist, keyboardist and bandleader best known for his playing of the Hammond organ and association with his Big Roll Band...
plays a stalking fan, who intends to get Bannerman to record again at any cost.
As the production spread into weeks, cast and crew all worked extra shifts, as Read used ordinary people as actors, who looked the part, and subsequently became the role, as did the great Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI , was an Italian film director and scriptwriter. Known for a distinct style that blends fantasy and baroque images, he is considered one of the most influential and widely revered filmmakers of the 20th century...
whom Read was influenced by in the shooting of the film.
The production ran into luck as an offer of editing facilities came in whilst the cast and crew were still filming. Read was able to cull a cool underground piece, through the help of Frontline editing facilities in Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
. Charlie Sayle at Frontline made sure the works were tended to with their best facilities. Read editted the film alongside Jason Kraszuki and Martin Strike. Incidental music was produced by Darryl Read and Dave Goodman
Dave Goodman
Dave Goodman was a record producer and musician, perhaps best known as the live sound engineer for Sex Pistols, and the producer of three of their studio demo sessions.-Sex Pistols:...
(who had been the original Sex Pistols
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
producer and sound man). The tagline on the films poster is:He's Going Far Further Than You Could Ever Imagine.
Filming
Half the cast had never acted before, and the cast and crew were thrown out of Golders Hill Park, London just after getting the shots they needed. The EMI Abbey Road sequence was also shot guerrilla-style.The film was mainly shot in Hampstead
Hampstead
Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...
and Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace
- United Kingdom :* The Crystal Palace, an 1851 building in south London destroyed by fire in 1936** The Great Exhibition, the event the building was built for, sometimes also known as Crystal Palace...
in south-east London and surrounds. One location was a pub where Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
had played in the 1960s, and the Fan's studio/shrine was Dave Goodman
Dave Goodman
Dave Goodman was a record producer and musician, perhaps best known as the live sound engineer for Sex Pistols, and the producer of three of their studio demo sessions.-Sex Pistols:...
's own small basement studio. The crew were just able to squeeze in for sequences, because the studio had an exit onto the garden. The overall effect of these studio sequences worked as the producer Darryl Read
Darryl Read
Darryl Read is a British poet, singer, guitarist, drummer, actor, and writer. Read is among the forerunners of punk rock...
wanted a claustrophobic atmosphere - in which the Fan entraps Bannerman, to try and get him to record again.
John Shann did the principle lighting/camerawork and Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon filmed raw documentary style footage. Tracey Bassim, who was given the job in a cafe on the first days filming, started immediately, and doubled as makeup and wardrobe supervisor. All cast and crew worked overtime and extra days for free, and the film never seemed to wrap. Everyone was under the impression on several end of shoot days, that that was it, only to find they were summoned back the following week for more. The production was also surrounded in mystery, as no one, apart from White and Read, knew what the storyline was about. It was, however, Read's intention to keep it that way, to create a natural spontaneity in performances.
Theme song
The title song Remember a DayRemember a Day
"Remember a Day" is a song by British psychedelic rock band Pink Floyd, and is featured on their second album, A Saucerful of Secrets . The song, written and sung by Richard Wright, was recorded in October 1967 at De Lane Lea Studios in London, England...
was written by Rick Wright and rights were granted to the production by Rick Wright himself through Bernard White. Darryl Read had heard the track bleeding through playback speakers on the shoot, and in the editing of the film, heard it again, in the background on some concert footage sequence takes, and decided that that would be the film title. White immediately set about contacting Wright, whom he knew, for the rights. The song opens and closes the film, and the instrumental version is played over the end credits.