Perry Henzell’s reggae gangster film adopts a similar ethos as its continental American predecessors, as evident in the soundtrack’s assertion that “You can get it if you really want.” The film is a fascinating and thoroughly entertaining portrayal of a young Jamaican man’s passage from country to Kingston, from poverty and innocence to notoriety as a drug-runner, killer, singer, and fugitive. Like the typical American gangster film, Jimmy Cliff’s Ivan is on top of the world, able to traverse social strata and evade the interwoven forces of the police, the drug trade, and the record industry (at least for a while). His sheer force of will is never more evident than the sequence in which Ivan belts out his hit (the film’s title song) for the devious record mogul, Mr. Hilton. Through a series of violent altercations, pulsating grooves, and cool outfits, Henzell constructs a grim, but kinetic depiction of Kingston street life, a gangster film in a new vernacular.
by Leo Goldsmith | Source: Xenon Pictures DVD
16 Jan 2005 3:14 PM | Submit Comment