The Harder They Come - Criterion...
Director-producer Perry
Henzel's all-Jamaican-made 1973 classic, one of the most beloved and
longest-running of all international cult favorites, fiercely expresses the
live-wire Jamaican spirit--an impoverished Africa tuned to American
radio. The film also incorporates an archetypal passion for
"outlaw" justice common to American Westerns, which were a staple
of the Caribbean theater circuit
at the time. Released just 12 years after Jamaica achieved
independence, The Harder They Come also reflects the disenchantment
that soon followed a massive post-independence exodus from the island's
country hamlets to the tropical ghettos of Kingston, where a more
grinding urban poverty awaited. Brilliantly shot, directed, written, and
acted, especially by singer Jimmy Cliff in the leading role and Carl
Bradshaw as his archenemy, the film tells an anthemic Jamaican story to
seductive rhythms of a soundtrack that became a reggae bestseller. Ivan, a
country boy who dreams of fame as a singer, rides into Kingston on a rickety
country bus in the opening scenes, only to meet with disaster heaped on
disaster, always at the hands of those masked as friends. In a breathless
defining climax, Ivan finally breaks from his passivity and begins to wreak
his revenge. Soon Kingston's music Mafia and the equally corrupt authorities
are after him, but like the real-life people's hero (a man named Rhygin) on
whom this character is partially based, Ivan leads them on a maddening
chase--much to the delight of the people--eluding capture until the movie's
shocking final moments. --Elena Oumano
The Harder They Come - Criterion...
Director-producer Perry
Henzel's all-Jamaican-made 1973 classic, one of the most beloved and
longest-running of all international cult favorites, fiercely expresses the
live-wire Jamaican spirit--an impoverished 
