| Uphill Watching |
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| written by danleary25 |
March 16, 2004 - 11:49 PM PST |
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5 out of 5 members found this review helpful
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The Harder They Come is an entirely unparalleled film. There simply aren't any other movies that chronicle this same time and place(or at least no other such film is readily available). Set in the third-world Jamaica of the 1970s The Harder They Come is valuable for giving an angle into the corrupt and infantile record industry of Jamaica. The general story of a simple person who's humble dreams push him into a dark life is made more interesting by having something unique to say about poverty and class-conflicts of this time frame.
The filmmaking quality is standard of 1970s independent film. Early on I sensed the qualitites of a blaxploitation film, and I think such comparisons are unavoidable. Certainly themes of antiestablishment and little inhibition to violence and sex lend themselves to both this film and blaxploitation, but this film is set apart from such American ones solely because the driving force is not race but class, poor blacks versus rich blacks.
It is however a flawed film, gaps in the plot begin to carry us to the otherwise stunning climax. And most difficult to deal with is the dialog, although filmed in English it's almost impossible at times to understand the thick Jamaican dialect and coarse speaking patterns. At times this movie can become difficult, uphill watching. Eventually I had to leave the subtitles on just to get through it. Ultimately the film should appeal to people interested in unique world cinema, anyone into reggae music and music in general and for its unusual social content. |
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