Cinema
The Harder They Come
Perry Henzell · 1972
Synopsis
When his grandmother dies, Ivanhoe Martin leaves the countryside for Kingston. There he finds odd jobs with a preacher, falls in love with his ward Elsa and records a song for Hilton, the producer who controls the radio stations and offers him only twenty dollars for it. Reduced to carrying ganja for a network protected by the police, he rebels, shoots a policeman and becomes, while on the run, the hero of the poor districts, as his record becomes a hit.
Context
Written by the director with the playwright Trevor D. Rhone, the film has a hero inspired by Rhyging, a West Kingston bandit shot dead by the police in 1948. Jimmy Cliff plays the lead and sings several tracks on the soundtrack, which also features the Maytals and Desmond Dekker. Shown at the Carib in Kingston on 5 June 1972, then at Venice, it was released in New York in February 1973 with English subtitles for the Creole, and found its American audience only at midnight screenings.
Who it is for
A film in subtitled Jamaican Creole, one hundred and nine minutes. The soundtrack cannot be separated from the film itself.
Prizes and reception
The first Jamaican feature film; its soundtrack played an important role in the discovery of reggae outside the island.
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