The Harder They Come

Directed by Perry Henzell and written by Henzell and Trever D. Rhone, The Harder They Come is the story of a man trying to find work as he becomes a singer until a dispute with his producer forces him to venture into crime. The film is an exploration of a man just trying to survive and have the chance to make a living only to become a folk hero of sorts just as the song he’s created is becoming an anthem for the people of Jamaica. Starring Jimmy Cliff, Janet Bartley, Carl Bradshaw, Ras Daniel Heartman, Basil Keane, Robert Charlton, and Winston Stona. The Harder They Come is a thrilling and riveting film from Perry Henzell.

The film follows a naïve man from the countryside as he arrives to the city looking for work as he decides to become a singer where he creates a hit song but gets little from its success prompting him to turn to crime. It’s a film with a simple premise as it play into a man trying to make a new life in Kingston but there are little opportunities as he also endures rules and prejudices that is foreign to him. The film’s screenplay by Perry Henzell and Trever D. Rhone is largely straightforward as it follows the character Ivanhoe “Ivan” Martin (Jimmy Cliff) who arrives to Kingston from the countryside to live with his mother but things don’t go well as well as finding work and such. Yet, he wants to be a singer as he often encounters trouble with a preacher whose adopted daughter Ivan has interest in as well as people who take advantage of him. Upon recording a song that becomes a hit, he tries to sell it independently but ends up getting $20 from a music producer as it would lead to more trouble as he turns to crime where he deals in drugs and becomes a Robin Hood figure of sorts fighting against corruption and injustice.

Henzell’s direction does have elements of style in the presentation of crime scenes as much of it is straightforward as it is shot largely on location in and around Kingston, Jamaica. There is a looseness to Henzell’s direction as the wide shots get a look into the locations as much of the direction has Henzell use close-ups and medium shots to get a look into the atmosphere of the shantytowns in Kingston as well as the places that Ivan goes to. The usage of hand-held cameras add to the liveliness of the film such as a club scene where Ivan hears his record being played along with some of the action as they mirror some of the images of westerns that he and others saw earlier in the film. Henzell also play into this world of corruption involving the police, record producers, and marijuana suppliers with Ivan getting caught in the middle as Henzell does create this air of suspense and intrigue but also fantasy as it play into Ivan’s embrace of being famous either for the song he created or for the crimes he’s committed. Overall, Henzell crafts an exhilarating and gripping film about a country bumpkin whose desire to become a singer in the city leads him into the world of crime and infamy.

Cinematographers Peter Jessop, David McDonald, and Franklyn St. Juste do excellent work with the film’s cinematography as they use grainy camera footage to capture a realism of the locations as well as using available light for some of the scenes set at night. Editors Reicland Anderson, John Victor-Smith, and Richard White do terrific work with the editing as it has elements of style in some of the jump-cuts and montages that play into Ivan’s many misadventures. Art director Sally Henzell does nice work with the look of some of the places that Ivan goes including a bar and a few homes he would crash at.

The sound work of Bob Povey and Winston Rodney is superb for capturing the atmosphere of the locations as well as the way music sounds on a radio or at a club. The film’s music soundtrack is incredible as it features songs by Jimmy Cliff, Scotty, Desmond Dekker, the Slickers, and the Maytals as it is all rooted in reggae music as it has many songs on the soundtrack that stand out including its titular track and You Can Get It If You Really Want that are both sung by Cliff.

The film’s wonderful cast feature an appearance from reggae music legend Prince Buster as a DJ at a club, Leslie Kong as a recording engineer, Basil Keane as the preacher who doesn’t like Ivan, Carl Bradshaw as a friend of Ivan in Jose, and Ras Daniel Heartman as the dealer Pedro. Janet Bartley is fantastic as the young woman Elsa whom Ivan would fall for as she becomes troubled by his criminal activities later on while Bob Charlton is excellent as the corrupt music producer Hilton who makes money through payola. Winston Stona is brilliant as Detective Ray Jones as a corrupt police official who helps control the drug trade as he finds Ivan as someone who is just disrupting everything. Finally, there’s Jimmy Cliff in a phenomenal performance as Ivanhoe “Ivan” Martin as this country bumpkin who arrives to the city looking for work to pay for his chance to be a singer yet endures corruption and uncertainty as he goes into crime where Cliff brings in some charm as well as that naiveté into a man who doesn’t understand how hard the ways of the world is at it is an iconic performance from Cliff.

The Harder They Come is a sensational film from Perry Henzell that features a great performance from Jimmy Cliff. Along with its compelling story of social and geographical differences, lively visuals, and a killer music soundtrack. It’s a film that explore the world of Jamaica at a time when reggae is starting to emerge as well as a man trying to become famous or die trying. In the end, The Harder They Come is a phenomenal film from Perry Henzell.

© thevoid99 2020

Marley (2012 film)

Directed by Kevin MacDonald, Marley is a documentary film about the life and career of reggae music legend Bob Marley. Told through archival footage, rare audio and film clips, and new interviews with family, friends, and collaborators. The film explores Marley’s early life as well as his career into becoming an international superstar until his untimely death in 1981 of cancer. The result is an engrossing and lively film from Kevin MacDonald that explores the life one of the greatest artists of the 20th Century.

Bob Marley is an icon in the world of music who would introduce the world to reggae music as he wouldn’t just make it popular but also display characteristics to express the need for social changes as well as giving voice to the oppressed and neglected. From his early years singing as part of a doo-wop group of sorts called the Wailers with Bunny Livingston and the late Peter Tosh that would later become a full-on reggae band until Livingston and Tosh left the group in 1974. Marley’s impact on popular music was immense as he would bring the music of his home country of Jamaica into the attention of the world as well as the idea of Rastafarian to give Africans and Jamaicans an identity of their own.

With interviews from Marley’s widow Rita as well as two of his eleven children in the singers Cedella and Ziggy plus longtime girlfriend Cindy Breakspeare, Bunny Livingston, producer Lee “Scratch” Perry, and fellow reggae artist Jimmy Cliff as well as many others. The film follows a simple narrative of Marley’s early life living in the small town of St. Ann in the Jamaican countryside where he never knew his father who was a white man named Norval Marley who was a government official that was known for sleeping with a lot of Jamaican women as he was from a well-off family. The film would also feature interviews with Marley’s mother Cedella Booker (who would die four years before the film’s release) as well as half-sister of his in Constance who also admits to not knowing much about her father as she is featured in one scene listening to a song called Corner Stone where one of his second cousins is listening to as it relates to the rejection that Marley would have throughout his life as someone related to this white family known as the Marleys as he is related to them.

While Kevin MacDonald does follow the narrative about Marley’s music career that would blossom for much of the 70s and peaking towards the 1980s until his death in May of 1981. Much of the film focuses on aspects of Marley’s personal life as well as his relationship with his family and his notorious womanizing which Rita knew but let it happen as she had so much respect for her husband and his work ethic. She would be with him as she along with many others survived an assassination attempt on Marley in 1976 on the eve before he was to give a free concert during a tumultuous period in Jamaica’s history relating to an election and divisive political standings. It would lead to a brief exile from Jamaica for Marley, his family, and entourage as the film showcases his growing audience all over the world including Africa where he played at an independence concert for Zimbabwe. The film also play into the final months of his life as it reveal what he was trying to fight the cancer he had for years due to an infection in one of his big toes.

Much of MacDonald’s direction in the film is straightforward as he’s aided by cinematographers Mike Eley, Alwin H. Kuchler, and Wally Pfister in shooting much of the interviews as well as some gorgeous shots of the locations in Jamaica as well as places such as a small town in Delaware Marley stayed at in the early 60s and the German resort he would go to in his final months. Editor Dan Glendenning would compile many of the rare concert footage and old video interviews Marley did during his lifetime with sound designer Glenn Freemantle compiling much of the audio including some rare demos and early tracks that Marley did as well as some of the audio interviews. Visual effects supervisor Hayden Jones would do some wonderful work in creating some 3D effects for some of the photos to make it come alive. Music supervisor Liz Gallacher does amazing work with compiling the soundtrack that doesn’t just feature much of the music that Marley did in his lifetime including some rare demos but also in the music that was playing in the early 1960s in Jamaica before Marley’s ascendance into the becoming its cultural icon.

Marley is a phenomenal film from Kevin MacDonald. Not only is it a film that offer some new stories and insights for those familiar with the life and music of Bob Marley but it also offer for those new or not entirely familiar with Marley the chance to hear his music as well as get some ideas about the world of Rastafarian. In the end, Marley is a sensational film from Kevin MacDonald.

© thevoid99 2017