The Harder They Come Review

"The Harder They Come" (1972)
Drama/crime film
Directed by Perry Henzell

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

I liked the story of the movie, it’s full of action and drama that makes it fun to

watch and doesn't get boring. What makes it interesting are the decisions that

the protagonist (Ivanhoe Martin) takes, in the beginning is a little weird how he

turns into a criminal with aggressive and illogical actions, but it becomes a code

on the construction of the character with the repetition of those actions, making

him a really complex character, full of motivations well presented in at the

beginning of the movie, like the poorness in the context where he lived, bad

treatment between people, violence, etcetera.

I didn’t like the way of how the movie was made, i'm mean the montage and

cinematography. Direction of Art did a great job making the scenography of the

movie and creating a palette with the primary colors. That helps with the continuity

of the movie that has some serious problems with raccord. Cinematography isn’t

constant at all in the whole movie, exploring different ways of filming like using

camera on hands or using movements on tripod really different to each other,

combined with a montage that make hard cuts between scenes. This makes it

difficult for viewers to continue on the fiction of the movie due to jump cuts. 

2. Who is your favorite character from the film?

I don’t have any favorite character, the protagonist was erratic and violent, making

it hard to empathize with him. He killed a lot of people, even a woman and didn't

go to jail, that really pissed me off. But, he is well constructed, we can understand

what his motivations are due to the living conditions that he had, his social context

of violence and crime, the bad treatment and injustice that the music records gave

to artist that were trying to succeed in the middle of very poor socioeconomic

conditions.

3. Would you recommend this film to someone, why/why not?

I found this movie to be really good, better than what I expected. I know that I

criticized the technical problems that it has, but the story and the content in it like

music, makes it really interesting and important to his era. We can see a lot of Rastafari

and reggae influences on it, and this is the movie that make this topics expand on the

UU.EE. and the world. So i consider important this movie because it allows us to

understand the culture of Jamaica in those times after British colonist went out of the

country, and show us the influence of reggae in Jamaica in this process of

reconstruction. Also it’s really fun to see, so I would recommend this movie to anyone. 

4. How does this film contribute to postcolonial identity?

When a country breaks in a new era of new politics and changes in socio-economical

conditions of living, the culture get complex and starts to develop and grow up. This

movie present us the world that Jamaicans lived and criticize the bad living conditions

that people had to deal after the British colonies left Jamaica. At the same time, with

reggae music this movie present the aspirations of society to emerge and improve their

living conditions and social relationships. Reggae becomes the main cultural movement

in post colonial times, and it has influenced till the present day in Jamaica and the rest
of the world.