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Movies have often been used as a vehicle for introducing a new form of music. But few such films have had the impact and lasting merit of 1972's The Harder They Come, which—against all odds—became one of the longest-running repertory films in pre-video cinema history, and brought reggae music to the world at a time when the name Bob Marley was barely known outside the Caribbean.
Commercial filmmaker Perry Henzell had neither objective in mind when he set out to make a dramatic feature by Jamaicans, for Jamaicans, choosing the true tale of outlaw Ivan "Rhygin" Martin, a cop-killing "Robin Hood" figure who'd captivated the island nation several decades prior. After casting singer Jimmy Cliff in the lead and updating the story, the inequities of the music business became an obvious focus for a plot generally intending to reveal the gross class divisions in the newly-independent island nation best known (at the time) for happy-go-lucky Calypso music and idyllic resorts.
As Ivan, Cliff travels from the countryside to Kingston to inform his mother that his grandmother, who he'd been living with, has died and left him homeless. Against her wishes, Ivan decides to stay in the city to pursue his dream of becoming a star singer. He goes to see Hilton, a Mercedes-driving producer so callous he auditions a vocal group in the parking lot as he's pulling out—turning them down without a modicum of politeness. Having nowhere else to turn, Ivan joins the choir of a missionary church, but becomes embroiled in a fight for a girl's interest with the preacher, who rides him for liking rebellious reggae and Playboy magazines.
He finally gets his chance when he delivers tapes to a recording studio (the actual Dynamic Sound, where we get to see the Maytals cutting "Sweet & Dandy") and Hilton—and uncredited engineer Carlton Lee?—agree to audition him the next day. Before that can happen, he gets in a knife fight over a bicycle and is punished by flogging. Eventually, he records "The Harder They Come," but as desperate as he is, refuses to sign away the master rights for 20 dollars. After being rebuffed by record stores and DJs, he relents and does the deal, but Hilton doesn't promote the disc because the singer is a "troublemaker." Ivan then falls into the ganja (cannibis) trade, which turns him into a renegade when corrupt police target him, and he turns out to be as talented with a pistol as he is with a microphone. His notoriety turns his record into a hit, and him into a folk hero.
Gritty and realistic, even in its drab color scheme, The Harder They Come was quite obviously shot in real places (including the shanty towns of West Kingston) with real people (only half of the cast were experienced actors, and often improvised scenes). We see the hardscrabble and cutthroat side of "paradise," as well as its natural beauty, and the clear divide between haves and have-nots. Cliff is such a hypnotizing screen presence it's hard to believe the singer never developed an acting career since. Since Henzell wanted to make the film "as Jamaican as possible," a significant portion of the dialogue is in patois, or just accented heavily enough to require subtitles. And, giving a nod to legacy, ska legend Prince Buster makes a cameo as the club DJ who first plays Ivan's record.
Interestingly enough, in a parallel to that other influential pop movie A Hard Day's Night, the title song was written for the film, and not even recorded until 2/3rds of production was completed (they were initially going to use Cliff's previous lesser-known groover "Hard Road To Travel"). It's such a classic that it's hard to imagine the history of reggae without it—or without the entire soundtrack album, which was so successful it actually helped to promote the film as much as vice versa.
Originally shot in super-16mm (1:85 ratio), the film has been painstakingly restored to a state truly "better than ever" including the reinsertion of 20 edited shots, and an impressive video and audio remastering. Additionally, this special edition includes a revelatory documentary about the making and distribution of the film, as well as an archival interview with Cliff and other extras. The package also includes a separate disc with the original soundtrack album if—for some incredible reason—you don't own it already.
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