Beware of Mr. Baker is a 2012 documentary film by Jay Bulger about rock drummer Ginger Baker.
For Bulger’s article “The Devil and Ginger Baker” in Rolling Stone magazine, Bulger lived with Baker in South Africa where Ginger had spent the previous decade living in seclusion.[1] The article and the numerous hours of interviews Bulger captured on film became the premise for the film, and in the spring of 2010, Bulger returned to South Africa with a small film crew to finish making the film. It premiered at the 2012 South by Southwest Film Festival and won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary. The title is a reference to a sign outside of his South African compound.
Reception
Beware of Mr. Baker received universal acclaim critically, with Rotten Tomatoes giving the documentary film a ‘fresh’ rating of 98 %.[4] The consensus writes, “Free of the hagiographic overtones that dog many documentary profiles, Beware of Mr. Baker presents a clear-eyed, thoroughly gripping look at one of rock’s greatest — and most personally problematic — musicians.”The film won several awards, and was nominated for the ‘Grierson Award’ at the 2012 London Film Festival.
Baker said of the film himself, “Some of it is very good and some of it is very annoying.”He elaborated that he was frustrated with the inclusion of some of the people on the film, however was pleased to see Eric Clapton and Charlie Watts had taken part.
