KingsOfKings
♟️ GRANDMASTERS ♟️
When Perry Henzell’s The Harder They Come premiered in Kingston, Jamaica in the Summer of 1972, few pundits could have predicted the groundbreaking musical drama’s crossover power on the midnight movie circuit and the continued legacy of the film’s naturalistic grit and now-iconic soundtrack. By both providing a window into the daily life of a burgeoning artist in Jamaica and helping to popularize Reggae music in the international consciousness, The Harder They Come transcended the trappings of low-budget cinema to receive a large and vibrant cult following for decades to come.
Ebbing and flowing between the blue-collar focus of neorealist storytelling and the thrilling trappings of crime cinema that populated grindhouse cinemas throughout the 1970s, Henzell’s effortlessly atmospheric style transforms The Harder They Come into complicated collage of cultural references that never condescends to its diverse international audience. Instead, Henzell and the film’s star Jimmy Cliff maximize the emotional sway of Reggae music as both a propulsive soundtrack and a tonal foundation for the varied exploits of Ivanhoe Martin, an anti-heroic protagonist loosely based on the life of a Jamaican criminal of the same name. Through Henzell’s naturalistic direction, Jimmy Cliff’s multilayered meta performance, and especially the masterful soundtrack featuring reggae icons like Toots and The Maytals and Desmond Decker, The Harder They Come continues to illuminate the vitality of Jamaican arts and culture within the landscape of cult cinema 50 years later.
Across the gloriously grainy sixteen-millimeter visuality of The Harder They Come, Perry Henzell and his team of cinematographers — Peter Jessop, David McDonald, and Franklyn St. Juste — work together to capture the captivating vibrancy of Jamaican landscapes in conjunction with the textures of the central character’s mundane experiences. From traffic jams on narrow bridges to recording sessions in a Kingston music studio and even a marvelously meta trip to a movie theater to see the spaghetti western Django on the big screen, Henzell and company prioritize the casual rhythms of existence over the heaviness of plotting, freeing the film from the constraints of narrative heaviness. In addition to providing meaningful atmosphere and local texture to the storytelling trajectory of The Harder They Come, Henzell’s poetic visual approach also demystifies the persistence of colonialism in 1970s Jamaica. By indirectly critiquing the imperialist impact of church life and policing on the landscape of midcentury Kingston, The Harder They Come comments on the impact of colonial meddling in Jamaica without descending into didactic explanation or thematic heaviness. Furthermore, the haunting worship service and baptism sequences as well as the prison-set scene of bodily punishment early in the film reveal colonialism as a ghost that looms over the public spaces and personal behavior within Martin’s story.
While it is essential to acknowledge Henzell’s sensitive approach to colonial structures within the film, it is equally important to elevate The Harder They Come as a joyful celebration of artistic expression and personal liberation. By placing Reggae icon Jimmy Cliff at the center of the film as a meta fusion of himself and the infamous yet often mythologized criminal Vincent “Ivanhoe” Martin, Henzell gives the film a beating heart and a burning passion. Through his emotionally complex and endlessly cool portrayal of Ivanhoe Martin, Jimmy Cliff pushes the limits of movie stardom to reinvent a protagonist that feels equally fit for arthouse fare and blockbuster filmmaking. Transitioning between acts of necessary desperation in a scene riffing on Vittorio De Sica’s classic Bicycle Thieves and both the confident performances and stylish dance sessions in the film’s central musical sequences, Cliff manages to make Ivanhoe equally human and mythic without disrupting the film’s naturalistic tone.
More at link
collider.com
Ebbing and flowing between the blue-collar focus of neorealist storytelling and the thrilling trappings of crime cinema that populated grindhouse cinemas throughout the 1970s, Henzell’s effortlessly atmospheric style transforms The Harder They Come into complicated collage of cultural references that never condescends to its diverse international audience. Instead, Henzell and the film’s star Jimmy Cliff maximize the emotional sway of Reggae music as both a propulsive soundtrack and a tonal foundation for the varied exploits of Ivanhoe Martin, an anti-heroic protagonist loosely based on the life of a Jamaican criminal of the same name. Through Henzell’s naturalistic direction, Jimmy Cliff’s multilayered meta performance, and especially the masterful soundtrack featuring reggae icons like Toots and The Maytals and Desmond Decker, The Harder They Come continues to illuminate the vitality of Jamaican arts and culture within the landscape of cult cinema 50 years later.
Across the gloriously grainy sixteen-millimeter visuality of The Harder They Come, Perry Henzell and his team of cinematographers — Peter Jessop, David McDonald, and Franklyn St. Juste — work together to capture the captivating vibrancy of Jamaican landscapes in conjunction with the textures of the central character’s mundane experiences. From traffic jams on narrow bridges to recording sessions in a Kingston music studio and even a marvelously meta trip to a movie theater to see the spaghetti western Django on the big screen, Henzell and company prioritize the casual rhythms of existence over the heaviness of plotting, freeing the film from the constraints of narrative heaviness. In addition to providing meaningful atmosphere and local texture to the storytelling trajectory of The Harder They Come, Henzell’s poetic visual approach also demystifies the persistence of colonialism in 1970s Jamaica. By indirectly critiquing the imperialist impact of church life and policing on the landscape of midcentury Kingston, The Harder They Come comments on the impact of colonial meddling in Jamaica without descending into didactic explanation or thematic heaviness. Furthermore, the haunting worship service and baptism sequences as well as the prison-set scene of bodily punishment early in the film reveal colonialism as a ghost that looms over the public spaces and personal behavior within Martin’s story.
While it is essential to acknowledge Henzell’s sensitive approach to colonial structures within the film, it is equally important to elevate The Harder They Come as a joyful celebration of artistic expression and personal liberation. By placing Reggae icon Jimmy Cliff at the center of the film as a meta fusion of himself and the infamous yet often mythologized criminal Vincent “Ivanhoe” Martin, Henzell gives the film a beating heart and a burning passion. Through his emotionally complex and endlessly cool portrayal of Ivanhoe Martin, Jimmy Cliff pushes the limits of movie stardom to reinvent a protagonist that feels equally fit for arthouse fare and blockbuster filmmaking. Transitioning between acts of necessary desperation in a scene riffing on Vittorio De Sica’s classic Bicycle Thieves and both the confident performances and stylish dance sessions in the film’s central musical sequences, Cliff manages to make Ivanhoe equally human and mythic without disrupting the film’s naturalistic tone.
More at link
Why 'The Harder They Come' Remains a Definitive Reggae Film, 50 Years Later
'The Harder They Come' continues to illuminate the vitality of Jamaican arts and culture within the landscape of cult cinema 50 years later.
collider.com
