Film

Before Bob Marley made it big stateside, Henzell’s pulp tale of island outlaw Ivanhoe Martin (Cliff) took the midnight movie circuit by storm, unveiling the new reggae sound to American audiences. Based on the eponymous real-life Jamaican bandit and folk hero from the 40s, The Harder They Come tells the story of reggae in a microcosm: the country boy trying to make it in the big city of Kingston, the push-and-pull of Rasta spirituality and rude-boy swagger, the greed and mafia tactics of shady record producers, the ganja (of course), and a love for the movies, including a rowdy screening of a spaghetti western. Plus, of course, the tunes: Cliff’s title track, “You Can Get It If You Really Want,” the deeply spiritual “Rivers of Babylon,” DJ Scotty’s “Draw Your Brakes,” and Desmond Dekker’s “007,” plus Toots and the Maytals recording “Sweet and Dandy”—which is worth the price of admission alone!