Rebel Dread review – an engaging portrait of Don Letts

An enjoyable study of the musician, DJ and film-maker could do with fewer talking heads and more joyful tales from Letts himself

According to Don Letts, being punk rock is about “turning problems into assets”. The sensible straightforwardness of this documentary about the film-maker and DJ who is known for his work with the Clash is something of a problem. The film mostly comprises Letts, looking dapper in a jaguar-print silk shirt and bedazzled beanie, smoking as he recounts his journey chronologically. Given that its subject is such a major figure in alternative culture, it seems a waste not to tell his story in a more left-field way. Instead director William E Badgley relies on conventional talking head interviews with Letts’s countercultural colleagues, including Mick Jones, John Lydon and Soul II Soul’s Jazzie B, their memories illustrated by archive footage of Letts’s films and music videos.

Thankfully, Letts is such a good storyteller that the film’s biggest issue becomes its main strength. It’s a joy to listen to him reflect on working behind the till at punk hotspots Jean Machine and Acme Attractions on Kings Road in Chelsea, or hearing James Brown’s empowerment anthem Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud for the first time. Letts gives thoughtful context to the way he was able to straddle the racially delineated worlds of dub reggae and punk rock, drawing parallels between the merging of subcultures in 1970s London, and the intersection of hip-hop and rock’n’roll in 1980s New York.