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HugeReviews.com Reviews:
The
Harder They Come
by
Scott Neufville
HUGE
The
1973 Jamaican film The Harder They Come is a classic.
The
Harder They Come is a realistic depiction of life in one of the world's worst ghettos,
Trench Town, (West Kingston) Jamaica, and stars reggae legend Jimmy
Cliff (Club Paradise, Marked for Death) in a gritty performance
that alone makes this film worth watching.
Two actors were killed during the shooting of this 'on location'
film about a young man from the countryside who migrates to Kingston and
becomes a reggae artist. Cliff's
character, Ivan Martin, is a near mirror of himself for part of the
movie, but this is not the only reason I consider it a classic.
Though
low budget, the film was technically sound in film language, plot, and
story while it studied Martin's transformation from a musician from the
countryside into a notorious urban criminal.
It even co-starred well known Jamaican actor Carl Bradshaw (Klash,
Third World Cop) as Pedro, an underworld ganja (marijuana) runner.
What
made this film a classic in my eyes is its authentic portrayal of
Afro-Jamaica...the Jamaica most care to know about. The film did not dwell on the tired Eurocentric Jamaic
viewers familiar with true Jamaican culture saw in prior films about the
island. The actors in this
one were real Jamaicans playing dominoes, singing reggae, and speaking
real Jamaican patois, even making it necessary to often use subtitles.
For me, watching this film was like a nostalgic mingling amongst
family. And get this; The
Harder They Come is the first Jamaican film of it's kind. It's as if those slain on the film's set died so we wouldn't
have to prance around West Kingston ourselves, you can just watch the
film from a cozy living room instead.
For this luxury, the deceased are martyrs to me.
The
Harder they Come is a classic because it is a Jamaican's Jamaican film and the first of
it's kind. I give it a HUGE!
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