The Harder They Come
May 24th 2006 12:43
It was mentioned in a comment and I watched it again the other day, so The Harder They Come gets a look-in today on the reggae blog. Is the film The Harder They Come something reggae fans should cherish or is it a film cherished only because it is a reggae film?
I like it. I like it to see Jimmy Cliff recreating the recording of the title track The Harder They Come. I also like it for the rest of the sound track, despite the pop flavour of You Can Get It If You Really Want. Sweet and Dandy is one of my favourite Toots songs and Johnny Too Bad, by The Slickers is another great tune and is basically The Pioneers playing under a different name.
Seeing a perception of Jamaica as it was is special as well – the ghetto life is quite interestingly shown. The horrific stabbing scene is enjoyable for all the wrong reasons and the sex scene for all the right. I can’t help but think of how Jimmy Cliff is now though. He is no longer a tough rudeboy, rather a cabaret star in my opinion. It is sad that I can’t look at Cliff outside of the context of his entire life, judging him just for this movie, but it is a fact of life – everything you do makes you as a person. I make connections and I do when I watch this film again.
I also can’t help but draw correlations with Quadrophenia. Like the mod film, it is a good film to a point, but the character becomes so pathetic, you find it hard not to begin to disengage with the film. I don’t like strictly positive movies, but with movies such as these the creators should realise why people are watching this film. In the case of Quadrophenia, for a connection to their own mod experience through scenes of scooters, music and fighting and The Harder They Come for the reggae and a look at Jamaica. Both films forget this, concentrating on character, but the characters or the performances aren’t strong enough to make these excellent films. Through this pursuit of wanting to be a film, they take away from their cult status as well. A shame.
Seeing a perception of Jamaica as it was is special as well – the ghetto life is quite interestingly shown. The horrific stabbing scene is enjoyable for all the wrong reasons and the sex scene for all the right. I can’t help but think of how Jimmy Cliff is now though. He is no longer a tough rudeboy, rather a cabaret star in my opinion. It is sad that I can’t look at Cliff outside of the context of his entire life, judging him just for this movie, but it is a fact of life – everything you do makes you as a person. I make connections and I do when I watch this film again.
I also can’t help but draw correlations with Quadrophenia. Like the mod film, it is a good film to a point, but the character becomes so pathetic, you find it hard not to begin to disengage with the film. I don’t like strictly positive movies, but with movies such as these the creators should realise why people are watching this film. In the case of Quadrophenia, for a connection to their own mod experience through scenes of scooters, music and fighting and The Harder They Come for the reggae and a look at Jamaica. Both films forget this, concentrating on character, but the characters or the performances aren’t strong enough to make these excellent films. Through this pursuit of wanting to be a film, they take away from their cult status as well. A shame.
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Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
and it's a raw looking movie, which appeals to me, too..
Comment by Peter