The Upsetter tells the fascinating story of Lee Scratch Perry a visionary musician and artist from poor rural Jamaica who journeyed to the big city of Kingston in the late 1950’s with dreams of making it in the burgeoning record industry. He burst upon the scene with a brand new sound, inventing a genre of music that would come to be called Reggae, discovering a young Bob Marley and gaining international recognition as a record producer and solo artist. Soon he was being called upon by artists as diverse as The Clash and Paul McCartney to provide his unique sound.
Direction
Ethan Higbee's kinetic style matches Perry's unhinged energy beat for beat.
Sound
The Black Ark recordings sound like they were mixed inside a haunted pinball machine.
Acting
Perry performs his own mythology with theatrical, possibly unhinged commitment.
Director
Ethan Higbee
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Perry really did bury microphones at the Black Ark's foundation and claim to record ghosts. The 'chicken sacrifice' story? Also real, and reportedly freaked out McCartney's entire session.
This film captures Perry before his 2010s resurgence, when younger artists like Diplo and Beastie Boys had already canonized him—yet he was still living in rural Swiss exile, talking to trees.
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