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Thursday, 10 June 2004
DVD ROUNDUP
The Harder They Come (1972, Perry Henzell)

Anyone who spent any time at an American college or university in the last three decades is no doubt familiar with the superb soundtrack to The Harder They Come, featuring some of Jimmy Cliff's best songs, along with a who's who of ska and reggae royalty including Desmond Dekker and Toots and the Maytals. For me, and many others, this album is an integral part of the soundtrack to our college years, and hearing one of the songs instantly transports me to a time now long gone. For Americans in the early '70's, this album was their first introduction to Jamaica's native music--and what an introduction! Yes, musicians in the know like Paul Simon and the Rolling Stones were already mining Kingston for its distinctive laid-back beats and on-the-offbeat rhythms. But this was the pure, unadulterated sound of the shantytown, raw and irresistible. It made you think of the tropics, of poverty and human struggle. And it really made you want to dance.

Somehow, I never had an opportunity to see the movie itself. Once a staple of college film societies and midnight movies, the film had by the '90's drifted into obscurity. Rescued by the good folks at Criterion and restored from the original 16mm negative, the Y Generation now can get a sense of what all the fuss was about. Of course, the film will always be valuable as a vehicle for the incredible soundtrack, but how does it hold up as a film? Despite rough edges, amateur actors, and dialogue rendered in a nearly indecipherable patois, the film has a rawness and vitality that does the music justice.

The picaresque story concerns Ivan (Jimmy Cliff), a young man from the country who comes to Kingston in search of fame and fortune. Of course, the wide-eyed country boy has "rube" written all over him, and all his possessions are stolen within minutes of his arrival. He finds his mother, who takes his remaining cash and kicks him out with the admonition to go back to the country. Ivan, however, is determined, and scrapes by as best he can, sleeping on the streets and begging for handouts and odd jobs. Taken in by a preacher named Preacher (Basil Keane), Ivan hones his singing skills in the choir and woos Preacher's young charge Elsa (Janet Barkley). Preacher finds out about the impure maneuverings and has Ivan kicked out. Whether he does this out of religious conviction or because he wants Elsa for himself (the latter is strongly implied) is unclear. As he's leaving, Preacher's behemoth handyman Longa (Elijah Chambers) picks a fight, which Ivan ends with a knife. Out on the streets again, Ivan's persistence pays off when local music mogul Hilton (Bob Charlton) agrees to let him record a song in his studio. The song (the title track) is clearly destined to be a hit, but Hilton's power is such that DJ's won't play anything without his imprimatur, and Ivan is forced to surrender the rights for a mere $20. It's then that Ivan runs into Pedro (Ras Daniel Hartman), the streetwise hood he met in the first scene. Pedro admires Ivan's perseverance, and gets him a job hustling ganja, the local cash crop. Not content with being the low man on the totem pole, Ivan uses force to move up in the organization. He finally realizes his dreams of fame when he kills a policeman, and becomes a wanted man and a folk hero to the poor people of the city.

Shot on 16mm, the film has a gritty look that underscores the nature of the story. Often, probably due to budgetary limitations, Henzell shoots with a single stationary camera, giving the audience a participatory feeling during the scenes in the church and nightclubs. The technique works exceptionally well during the recording of Ivan's song, where we focus virtually entirely on Cliff's expressive face as he delivers a searing rendition of his signature song. Often, faces are shot in extreme close up, creating interesting transitions between scenes, as the camera focuses for a moment on the intricate geometries of someone's hair, for example. The disk supplements chronicle the guerilla tactics employed by the filmmakers (officials tried to shut down filming due to its political content), which sometimes led to happy accidents, such as a great sequence with Ivan driving a Cadillac all over a golf course. There are technical shortcomings to be sure--the editing is often confusing; the stationary cameras occasionally make one pine for a dolly shot--but considering what the filmmakers were working with, it's a remarkably assured effort. Criterion also remastered the audio from the original print, and the music comes through clear and sweet, as does the dialogue (for what it's worth, my ears finally started becoming attuned to the patois about three quarters of the way through).
The actors, seemingly comprised largely of people from the music scene, add an aura of naturalism to the proceedings, but Henzell does a good job avoiding the twin perils of using inexperienced actors: apparent consciousness of the camera, and allowing them to engage in capital-A "Acting". The camera seems a fly on the wall in dialogue scenes, enhancing verisimilitude. Jimmy Cliff is extremely likeable as Ivan, yet his easy demeanor belies a complicated character. He's an optimist who never doubts that he's going to make it, but will take the easy way if it presents itself. He seems a decent, good-hearted fellow, but is capable of shocking brutality if pushed. These contradictions make the character much more interesting than that old warhorse The Good Guy Forced Into a Life of Crime. You can see why he's a folk hero, but he's not so pure that we don't feel a bit morally queasy about rooting for him, and perhaps question our affinity for other examples of the Robin Hood archetype.

The film manages to be a scathing social indictment without being too preachy. Like all good picaresque, the characters are satirized with a broad brush: The preacher who covets Elsa, the music producer whose greed destroys good musicians, the cops on the take from the ganja dealers. We get a sense of the abject poverty of the area by its contrast with the exclusive resorts for wealthy whites and tourists. The absurdity of a whole area's economic well-being being based upon an illegal commodity is highlighted--even the cops depend on the ganja trade for their livelihoods. Through it all, there's this incredible, uplifting music that, while rooted in the Spiritual tradition, has much more revolutionary goals--don't wait for heaven, says the Rasta credo, fight for what's yours here on earth.

Criterion does its usual gold standard work on the picture and sound restoration. There's some grain, but it's to be expected, given the source. The mono sound is superb. Extras are not exhaustive, but I wish other manufacturers would take note of the care put into the package--we want quality, not quantity! There's a commentary with director Henzell and Jimmy Cliff, an informative interview with Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records and a fixture on the Jamaican reggae scene from the beginning, and biographies with selected discographies for all the artists represented on the soundtrack. I have one major gripe: the only subtitles include an audio descriptive service for the deaf. Most people who don't spend a lot of time around rastas are going to need the subtitles on; it would be nice to see the dialogue without sound effects and song lyrics cluttering up the screen.

Film: 4 (out of 5)
Look/Sound: 3.5/4
Extras: 3.5

Posted by alangton at 4:33 PM MDT
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