Ben May Film 1006: Post-War World Cinema 15/5/09

Critical Essay: Jamaican Cinema (focus – The Harder They Come (Perry Henzell, Jamaica, 1971)

‘Representing Jamaican culture on the screen, how The Harder They Come triggered the development of Jamaican cinema.’

The Harder They Come was the first movie made in Jamaica, directed by a Jamaican and with a Jamaican theme. The film opened the country’s eyes to the creation of film and the industry that surrounds it. It also gave the world (particularly the West) its first filmic taste of the cultural, social and historical issues of 20th century Jamaica. It was not only successful in the eyes of its audience but also in the eyes of film critics worldwide. Geoff Parker writes “Indisputably the greatest Jamaican film ever made, The Harder They Come is also one of the finest films yet made about the third world.” (2001). At first glance Perry Henzell appears to be using a narrative to document Jamaican roots Reggae music (especially that of Jimmy Cliff); but although The Harder They Come went a long way towards creating a huge global Reggae following the film had many other underlying issues. Even though most critics (Cham, Parker, Yearwood and others) discuss the film as the one that popularised Reggae music in the West it is the task here to illustrate that The Harder They Come brought Jamaican society and its culture into cinematic visibility. Cinema in Jamaica had only a western and predominantly Hollywood face until the release of The Harder They Come, but the meta-filmic self awareness of Henzell’s socially involved movie proved this was going to change. Jamaica as a country was in a relatively new social, political, and economical climate, its main export industries were changing from bananas and coffee to bauxite and alumina, and the country experienced a dramatic increase in tourism. In 1962 Jamaica was granted political independence. (Essix: 2009). According to Gladstone L. Yearwood “The Jamaican film The Harder They Come (1971) provides an excellent example of the way mythical consciousness influences narrative choices in cinema. The Harder They Come is the story of a mid – 20th century Jamaican folk hero Ivanhoe ‘Rhygin’ Martin, whose fight against the established order parallels the day-to-day struggle of society’s disenfranchised. In the film, Ivan is trapped between two worlds - the persistent poverty of Jamaica’s suffering underclass and an alluring metropolitan North American lifestyle.” (2000: 164). The plot of the film mirrored the political situation in Jamaica, striving to keep its cultural identity whilst trying to become a developed post independence, and post colonial nation. Henzell was clearly influenced by the Classical Hollywood western films, and these were the films that the early Jamaican theatres were screening. In The Harder They Come there is a scene of a trip to the cinema to watch a spaghetti western, recalling, (as the star Jimmy Cliff and friends comment) “the star never dies in the first reel”. This sequence is self aware and poignant, and is flashed back at the climax when Ivan (Cliff) gets found and killed. Henzell reaches out to world audiences and comments on his and Jamaica’s awareness of cinematic practice through this. This work bridges a gap, explaining more about Jamaica and advertising its new found creative practices. The fact that Jimmy Cliff (Ivan) plays a country boy heading to the city of Kingston to follow fame and fortune as a Reggae star, but in contrast is faced with poverty, betrayal and despair is a prophesy of the struggles that would be likely to face the budding film makers of Jamaica. Henzell comments on the impact the release of the film had on Jamaicans “In those days it was one big 1500 seat theatre. Outside, the crowd was so big that you could not see the end of it. There was a huge industrial chain link fence around the theatre and the crowd just flattened it. They broke the doors down. When there were three people in every seat, we ran the film.” (Quoted by Parker: 2001). This shows the huge impression the film had on the native people, but the popularity was not only limited to Kingston or even Jamaica. It went on to become a hugely successful film all around the globe, and gained a massive cult following. The Harder They Come covers many race issues. Perry Henzell, being a white Jamaican, was obviously aware of the traditional opinions towards race in his country, and was also aware of the same issues and opinions throughout the Hollywood industry in the 1960s and 1970s. Kenneth Harris writes about Ivan’s struggle with the law “The true source of conflict between him and them is a never seen white domination, particularly from the United States.” (Cham 1992: 212). In the scene when Ivan and his peers watch the Western at the cinema the only white face in the film appears. The hero of the Western is that face, his assailants are masked. This demonstrates Henzell’s informed but paradoxical opinion on Western and Hollywood cinema, playing on the stereotypical view of the ethnic minority being the antagonist, and showing that Ivan envisions himself in the place of the white protagonist. An example of the white domination is the record producer “Mr Hilton”, his name represents white America and his uncompromising control over Ivan’s music and the national music that gets released in Jamaica represents the control the West and Hollywood had over the film and music industries. The racial matter in the film provides evidence of how the world’s ideologies around the subject were changing and the success of The Harder They Come proved the culture in Jamaica needed to be embraced visually through cinema. Victoria M. Marshall comments on Henzell’s views that he represented on screen in ‘Ex- Iles’, “As a white Jamaican in a predominately Black country and socio-cultural environment, Henzell says he wants to face squarely the issues of racism and present them before people to address.” (1992: 102). This attitude is what made The Harder They Come so significant to the world and Jamaica, bridging a racial and filmic chasm that has lead to a new way in which third world cinema is held. Perry Henzell’s The Harder They Come proved his vast knowledge of Jamaican civilization, and also his understanding of narrative cinematic composition. The film was framed in a way which did not alienate Western and Hollywood film goers so it could be received in much the same way as the mainstream movies of the 1970s. This was an educated formula for Henzell to use that would explain the impression the movie made, combining classical narrative structure with a story about a struggle in a predominately black third world country. Yearwood discusses Henzell’s take on social hierarchy, “Without a doubt, the filmmaker offers no sympathies for social elites: they are seen as corrupt and oppressive. In turn, the film also offers no strong sympathies for the oppressed.” (2000: 182). This quote illuminates the middle ground that a director must find to make a film about life, reality is what Henzell found in The Harder They Come, and so did his audience. There were problems in Jamaica at the time of the film, and they needed to be put on the screen honestly. One factor in the absence of Jamaican film at the time of The Harder They Come (shot on 16mm film due to cost of 35mm) was lack of budget. Geoff Parker describes the economic situation of Jamaica in the 1970s, then quotes Henzell on his drive and determination and the love of the country that helped him make the movie which started the development of Jamaica’s film industry. “Although middle class and professional people left Jamaica in droves during the violence and economic chaos of the seventies, Henzell himself was never tempted to do so and remains optimistic about the resilience and potential of Jamaican society.”We have a tremendous tradition of freedom of expression. It’s one of the things that make Jamaica special. We’ve also had outspoken journalists, our radio talk shows are amazing. Jamaicans just feel free to express themselves.”” (2001). Jamaica had been used as a film location for 20 or more years before The Harder They Come, such films as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) and Dr No (1962) were both shot there. Since the cultural identity of Jamaica has been unveiled on screen by The Harder They Come there has been a dramatic increase in the number of films including Jamaican cultural references and using it as a location in the mainstream industry. For example Live and Let Die (1973), Papillion (1973), Cocktail (1988), Lord of the Flies (1990), Cool Runnings (1993), Wide Sargasso Sea (1993) and Legends of the Fall (1994) amongst others used the country as a location and some also included visions of Jamaican culture. (Film information found at www.jamaicans.com section titled, Jamaica and Film). The Jamaican film industry realised the potential of their country’s landscape and culture and so began to produce many of its own feature films such as Rockers (1978) directed and written by Ted Bafaloukos, a reggae based film clearly inspired by The Harder They Come that confidently portrayed Jamaican culture without the need of a traditional narrative structure. Followed by Children of Babylon (1980) directed by Lennie Little-White, Dancehall Queen (1997) and One Love (2003) directed by Rick Elgood and Donn Letts, and Third World Cop (1999) directed by Chris Browne. Stephanie Black also directed a documentary, Life and Debt (2001), looking at the effects of globalisation on Jamaican industry and agriculture. These films, although not all box office sensations, have helped to put a face on the emerging Jamaican film industry and brought money into the country. Thus increasing Jamaica’s potential budget for film production, far beyond that of The Harder They Come. At present Jamaica has a huge interest in film, the people felt that the nations cinematic triumphs proudly represent them and their culture. Thirty years on from the revolutionary The Harder They Come the industry is growing substantially, and now Jamaica hosts a number of film festivals and its own organisation known as ‘The Film Commission of Jamaica’ established 1984. The festivals include ‘The Flashpoint Film Festival’ started in 2004, a joint film and music celebration held in Negril that has grown into a three day event due to its success since it originated. ‘The Reggae Film Festival’ that started in 2008, hosted by the Jamaican Film Academy (JFA) in Kingston, which in 2009 and will be broadcast to 18 million viewers in Europe by Propellor TV. (www.jamaicans.com : 2009). Also representing the following of Jamaican cinema worldwide there are festivals that pay homage to the country’s filmic accomplishments such as ‘Fokus Jamaica’ held in Toronto, Canada in July 2008. (www.caribbeantales.ca/filmfestival : 2008). In conclusion, since the release of Jamaica’s first film, The Harder They Come in 1971 there has developed a modest but growing film industry. The evidence is conclusive that the success of Perry Henzell’s movie was what established this industry. Shot on 16mm film, with actors that had no previous experience and completed on a shoe string budget the film exceeded the expectations of the filmic world, in the eyes of critics, audience, and the director himself. It encapsulated the whole atmosphere of Jamaica and inspired future generations to continue following the path that Henzell started. With a soundtrack that introduced the world to Reggae music, and a star (Jimmy Cliff) that went on to become one of its frount-runners, the film did much for Jamaican arts as a whole; but above all it was the creator of Jamaican cinema and caused a revolution in Kingston that reverberated around the world. It showed a society itself on the screen for the first time, and the society embraced it. Jamaicans responded to the feelings of frustration and impotence in the film and related them to their lives. Without The Harder they Come or Perry Henzell Jamaica would have no film industry of its own.

Bibliography
CARRIBEAN.CA. ‘Fokus Jamaica (July 2008)’. [online]. Available at: www.caribbeantales.ca/filmfestival [accessed 11 May 2009].

CHAM, Mbye B. 1992. Ex-Isles: Essays on Caribbean Cinema. New Jersey: Africa World Press, Inc.

ESSIX, Donna. 2009. ‘Brief History of Jamaica’. [online]. Available at: http://www.jamaicans.com/info/brief.htm [accessed 11 May 2009].

HARRIS, Kenneth. 1992. ‘Sex Race Commodity and Film Fetishism in The Harder They Come’. In Mbye Cham [ed.] Ex-Isles: Essays on Caribbean Cinema. New Jersey: Africa World Press, Inc.

JAMAICANS.COM. 2009. ‘Jamaica and Film (28.02.09)’. [online]. Available at: http://.jamaicans.com/culture/articles_culture/jamaica-and-film.shtml [accessed 06 May 2009].

MARSHALL, Victoria M. 1992. ‘Filmmaking in Jamaica’. In Mbye Cham [ed.] Ex-Isles: Essays on Caribbean Cinema. New Jersey: Africa World Press, Inc.

PARKER, Geoff. 2001. ‘Perry Henzell: director of The Harder They Come’. [online]. Available at: http://www.reggaezine.co.uk/perryhenzell.html [accessed 06 May 2009].

SAMUELS, Stuart. 2005. ‘Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream’ [video: DVD]. ITV, 27 March 2007.

THELWELL, Michael. 1992. ‘The Harder They Come: From Film to Novel’. In Mbye Cham [ed.] Ex-Isles: Essays on Caribbean Cinema. New Jersey: Africa World Press, Inc.

WARNER, Keith Q. 1992. ‘Film, Literature, and Identity’. In Mbye Cham [ed.] Ex-Isles: Essays on Caribbean Cinema. New Jersey: Africa World Press, Inc.

WYNTER, Sylvia. 1992. ‘Rethinking Aesthetics’. In Mbye Cham [ed.] Ex-Isles: Essays on Caribbean Cinema. New Jersey: Africa World Press, Inc.

YEARWOOD, Gladstone L. 2000. Black Film as a Signifying Practice. New Jersey: Africa World Press, Inc.

Filmography

BAFALOUKOS, Ted. 1978. Rockers [video: VHS]

BLACK, Stephanie. 2003. Life and Dept [video: DVD]

BROWNE, Chris. 1999. Third World Cop [video: DVD].

DONALDSON, Roger. 1988. Cocktail [video: DVD].

DUIGAN, John. 1993. Wide Sargasso Sea [video:DVD].

ELGOOD, Rick & LETTS, Don. 1997. Dancehall Queen [video: DVD].

ELGOOD, Rick & LETTS, Don. 2005. One Love [video: DVD].

FLEISCHER, Richard. 1954. 20000 Leagues Under The Sea [video:DVD].

HAMILTON, Guy. 1973. Live and Let Die [video: DVD].

LITTLE-WHITE, Lennie. 1980. Children of Babylon [video: DVD].

HENZELL, Perry. 1971. The Harder They Come [video: DVD].

HOOK, Harry. 1990. Lord of the Flies [video: DVD].

SCHAFFNER, Franklin J. Papillion [video: DVD].

TURTLELTAUB, Jon. 1993. Cool Runnings [video: DVD].

YOUNG, Terrence. 1962. Dr. No [video: DVD].

ZWICK, Edward. 1994. Legends of the Fall [video: DVD].