Movie Review: The Harder They Come (1972)

Hello everyone, welcome to my first blog! I am very excited because this is the first time I am using this platform. 

For my first post, as the title says, I am going to write a review about ''The Harder They Come'', a Jamaican movie from the 70s that I watched in class.

This movie is starred by Jimmy Cliff, a famous reggae singer. This film is about Ivanhoe Martin, a poor Jamaican man who arrived to Kingston to pursue his dreams of being a successful singer. However, he faced a lot of problems that did not let him fulfill his dreams. He managed to create the song ''The Harder They Come'', which was a flop, but lately his song turned into a hit because Ivan became one of the most wanted criminals of the country.

1. In general, what did you like and dislike about the film?

I like the visual aspects of the movie. It has a lot of scenes where it's possible to observe the beauty of Jamaican geography. I was mesmerized with the beautiful landscapes of beaches and highways full of tropical vegetation. Although the movie was visually appealing, I hated the story. It was too negative and raw for me. The movie was full of violent moments and I'm not into this kind of movies, but if you like these movies go ahead and watch it!

2. Who is your favorite character from the film?

This question is a little bit hard for me because Ivan, as the main character, gets most of the screen time of the movie, so I don't have many options to choose. Anyways, I choose Elsa because she is a bad girl. I was really entertained by her rebelliousness against the preacher, who was an extremely controlling man. Sometimes I wish I had the audacity to be a rebel, just like Elsa.

3. Would you recommend this film to someone, why?

Of course! I would recommend this movie to all reggae fans in the world. If Jamaican culture is your thing, you should definitely watch it. This movie is a Jamaican classic and everyone who is interested in Caribbean culture should know about it. This film is full of interesting scenes where you can learn about Jamaican society from the 70s, and also you can enjoy watching the beautiful landscapes of tropical and pristine beaches.

4. How does this film contribute to postcolonial identity?

This film contributes to postcolonial identity principally because it shows the mix of English and Jamaican culture. I realized it as soon as the characters started talking with their unique accent (mostly known as Patois). This dialect got me kind of pissed off because I couldn't understand a thing! But then I got used to it.

You can also see this mix of cultures in some scenes where the characters enjoy cultural products from other countries. For example, there's a lot of Coke advertisements, and in some scenes there were people roller-skating.

In conclusion, ''The Harder They Come'' is an iconic movie that shows a lot of things from Jamaican culture, you have to watch it! It's available on YouTube.