After playing to sold out audiences at the T&T Film Festival (TTFF) last September, the Caribbean classic film, The Harder They Come, will once again be screened by the TTFF in an open-air cinematic experience, on June 3, at the San Fernando Hill Recreation Centre.
The Harder They Come tells the story Ivanhoe Martin (played by legendary reggae singer, Jimmy Cliff), a country boy who comes to the city in pursuit of a dream to become a reggae star, and soon learns the hard way how corrupt the music industry can be.
With legitimate employment hard to come by, he is befriended by the don of a drug-smuggling gang and becomes involved in their life of crime, but it quickly becomes clear that his drug buddies are just as exploitative as those in the music industry.
Ivan’s decision to take matters into his own hands pitches him into a battle for his life—an outlaw pitted against the gang and the police—but a beloved hero of the people.
Written and directed by Jamaican born, Perry Henzell, the story is loosely based on the true story of Vincent “Ivanhoe” Martin, an outlaw hero of the Kingston ghetto in the 1950s, who re-named himself Rhygin —patois for great vitality and force, lively, passionate and sexually provocative.
The Harder They Come updated Rhygin’s story for a nation that was in the throes of defining its post-colonial identity through homegrown heroes and popular music. Indeed, a key “character” in the film is the soundtrack, featuring songs by Toots and the Maytalls, Desmond Dekker and of course, Jimmy Cliff.
The movie was considered a “sleeper” when it was screened at the Venice Film Festival in 1972. The first film to be made in Jamaica by Jamaicans, it had no established channels to market itself, so the filmmakers rented a little cinema in Venice and lured festival-goers away from the main festival to their screening.
The first few to come, left so enthused that within days, the movie had become an underground hit. Good reviews at Venice eventually helped it find a distributor—and the rest is history.
Patrons are encouraged to bring blankets, chairs and cushions. Admission is free.
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The TTFF’s presentation of The Harder They Come is sponsored by NGC.
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