I had first intended to watch this when the Criterion DVD went out-of-print but I only managed to get to it now that the director has passed away! I'm not one of Blaxpioitation's biggest fans - even less so of Reggae music - but this is surely among the best I've seen; unfortunately, the heavy Jamaican accents make the dialogue unintelligible at times (even if I was watching the film with the benefit of Italian subtitles)!
Though the plot offers nothing new - a young man moves from the country to the city hoping to make it as a singing performer but, seeing how he's being exploited by his manager, resorts to crime in order to make a fast buck with the inevitable tragic outcome - the vividness of the ethnic culture and setting make it seem fresh and exciting (thanks in large part, too, to the great soundtrack, providing thought-provoking lyrics amidst unusual rhythms); sure, it's rough and raw film-making, but the end result is frequently disarming and exhilarating.
That said, the characters aren't very likable (including our hero played by Reggae star Jimmy Cliff, who also composed the songs) and the film ends up being somewhat overstretched for its purpose; the finale, though, with Cliff facing-off with the militia single-handedly (inspired by a screening of DJANGO [1966] he saw in a local cinema shortly after his arrival in town) is worth waiting for. Along the road, Cliff also gets involved with a preacher and his female ward; as a matter of fact, the all-black church sequences here reminded me of GANJA AND HESS (1973) - incidentally, "ganja" (street slang for dope) turns out to be a major plot point in this film's own latter stages.
Unfortunately, it seems that the version I watched is slightly trimmed as the IMDb lists scenes and shots (notably full-frontal nudity during a beating Cliff receives at the hands of the police) which aren't present here! By the way, the film's original soundtrack was voted No. 8 among the All-Time Top 20 Soundtrack Albums in an authoritative 1995 poll.
Though the plot offers nothing new - a young man moves from the country to the city hoping to make it as a singing performer but, seeing how he's being exploited by his manager, resorts to crime in order to make a fast buck with the inevitable tragic outcome - the vividness of the ethnic culture and setting make it seem fresh and exciting (thanks in large part, too, to the great soundtrack, providing thought-provoking lyrics amidst unusual rhythms); sure, it's rough and raw film-making, but the end result is frequently disarming and exhilarating.
That said, the characters aren't very likable (including our hero played by Reggae star Jimmy Cliff, who also composed the songs) and the film ends up being somewhat overstretched for its purpose; the finale, though, with Cliff facing-off with the militia single-handedly (inspired by a screening of DJANGO [1966] he saw in a local cinema shortly after his arrival in town) is worth waiting for. Along the road, Cliff also gets involved with a preacher and his female ward; as a matter of fact, the all-black church sequences here reminded me of GANJA AND HESS (1973) - incidentally, "ganja" (street slang for dope) turns out to be a major plot point in this film's own latter stages.
Unfortunately, it seems that the version I watched is slightly trimmed as the IMDb lists scenes and shots (notably full-frontal nudity during a beating Cliff receives at the hands of the police) which aren't present here! By the way, the film's original soundtrack was voted No. 8 among the All-Time Top 20 Soundtrack Albums in an authoritative 1995 poll.