Jay Bulger’s all-encompassing documentary BEWARE OF MR. BAKER takes its name from a warning sign that hangs in the driveway of the cantankerous British rock ‘n’ roll legend. An infamous figure tainted by a catalogue of ill-fated decisions and a history of substance abuse, Bulger’s impressive filmmaking debut peers behind the dark glasses and gruff facade of this wunderkind drummer and world renowned agent of disaster.

Starting in the present day, which sees Baker breaking the nose of his chronicler in a characteristic outburst of rage, Bulger’s film then journeys backwards and plunges into Baker’s early life and the wild and destructive career that has lead him to, at the time of filming, living a secluded life in South Africa. Bulger studies the troubled childhood, the beginnings as a gifted but untapped musician and the subsequent ascent into the gritty echelons of London’s jazzy, pre-rock ‘n’ roll scene. A number of techniques are utilised to depict the inspirational-cum-tragic tenor of his subject, whose quick submission to the enticements of drugs irrevocably changed his life.

BEWARE OF MR. BAKER is a fascinating, comprehensive and sympathetic portrait.

As Bulger flits back and forwards in time, the hidden truths about Baker slowly begin to seep out; he is, of course, a fiery personality that time is quickly beginning to forget, but he is also a caring and secretly kind man jaded by own his weaknesses. In the later stages of his career, when his affiliation with the short-lived Cream was drying up faster than his bank account, Bulger focuses on his charity and his obsessions with horses and polo, elements that both added to his compulsive personality and monetary downfall. In the more contemporary portions the camera stares, motionless, at a static, bitter and contrary 73-year-old Baker mumbling through anecdotes and spouting vitriolic lines and observations as he puts the world to questionable rights. He is vivacious and infectious, a tortured soul with a fascinating history, and Bulger does an excellent job of capturing him at his chequered highs and lows.

However much the director’s almost faultless affection for his subject glosses over the darkness, the selfishness and the occasionally unbelievable amount of pain he has caused, BEWARE OF MR. BAKER is a fascinating, comprehensive and sympathetic portrait. It paints an interesting picture of an explosively flamboyant figure in British rock history and the grimy 1960s and 70s rock climate that chewed up this thumping musical virtuoso and pitilessly spat him out.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83XdEBl0KUg