Review of Rockers (2003) by Andrew C — 12 Aug 2011

I-man loves this movie. Rockers is so completely enjoyable and totally unique. Having very strong documentary features, this film keeps surprising the viewer every minute. It is (at least for the first half an hour or so) as if someone just shouldered a camera and followed Horsemouth around Kingston doing his daily hustling' business. Most of the main characters are real people, playing themselves, esp. reggae artists and producers, and most of the locations are real as well. What I like most about this movie is its many layers. It's like a deep insight into Jamaican society of the late 70's, the golden era of roots reggae, in all its many aspects like class struggle, Rasta, family and religious issues. The hero is trying to rise above his status and make himself, his family and community stronger. His values - peace, love, neighborliness - are tested by but he rises above difficulties and meets the challenge. The end is perfect and sweet. The use of real people as actors and the very poignant of real life in Jamaica are incredibly unusual. Several times, like in the opening scene, characters directly address the viewer personally by facing the camera which I've never seen used like this anywhere else. Technically it's remarkably well done (apart from some pretty dark underexposed moments), for instance they manage to have many songs of the soundtrack coming from actual sources in the picture. And the real question here is who is this Greek director and writer and how did he get so deep inside the Rasta community?

But the big attraction here is the music, not the plot. The soundtrack includes Peter Tosh, Robbie Shakespeare, Burning Spear, Gregory Isaacs, Jacob Miler& Inner Circle, Bunny Wailer, and Leroy Wallace (who plays the protagonist). It is very difficult to hear this music and still sit in your seat without even a little rock your body.