The Harder They Come is the first independant film made in Jamica, entirley with Jamican funding. I don't know how many other Jamican films there have been, but this was a very auspicious beginning. The story revolves itself around Ivan, a young who has dreams escaping the poor background that he was born into as a reggae star. He tries to get a "real job" but no one wants to hire him. He dates a young woman who is the daughter of a minister (there family is just as poor as he is), who encourages him to take comfort in God. Ivan is an athiest who refuses to live for another reality after he dies.
Ivan is a wonderful character, and no matter what he does, we understand exactly why he does it. It's hard not to admire a man who refuses to take the garbage that the racist, corrupt society he lives in gives to him. I most definatley do not agree with what Ivan does later in the film, but admire the attitude behind it.
Jimmy Cliff, a real life reggae star, plays Ivan in a performance that is so real and complete I had a hard time beliving that acting was not his first proffesion. As great as the direction of this film is, the movie would have fell a part without a stong lead performance. Cliff probably a deserved an Oscar for this film, unfortanley this is not the sort of film the Academy recognizes.
After I saw the film, I learned that the soundtrack album is credited with populalizing reggae music outside of Jamica. Unfortanley for me, I will have to add this album to the long list of albums I need to purchase because the music is really amazing. Allmovie calls the title song, written and performed by Cliff - "a masterpiece". I'm not a musician but there probably correct.
It is interesting that I saw this film the day after I saw the terrible Crash, a movie about race relations where the characters do not have any traits to them other than there own race and their opinions on racial background of the other chracters. Without even intending to, this movie helped me appreciate the pleight of a poor minority group. I understand how Ivan must feel that the only rich people in a over 90% black Jamican are white. I also understand how the other characters in the film react to this. The movie achieves this by making Ivan a real person. This is a movie that someone who grew up in an all-white enviroment might be able to learn something from.
I notice that I've made the movie sound like a serious, social issues drama, but it's not. I don't know what it is. It's part ganster film, part musical, part drama, part slice of life realism. It's all amazing.
The Harder They Come (1972)