The Harder They Come (1972)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Perry Henzell

Writers:

Perry Henzell (written by) &
Trevor D. Rhone (written by)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Music

Tagline:

dem a loot, dem a shoot, dem a wail in shanty town (British DVD tag-line)

Plot:

Ivanhoe Martin comes to the city to make it big singing Reggae. However, he finds life in the city to be harder than he thought...

Plot Keywords:

Record | Reggae | Marijuana | Police | Jamaica

Cast

Jimmy Cliff	...	Ivanhoe "Ivan" Martin
Janet Bartley	...	Elsa
Carl Bradshaw	...	Jose
Ras Daniel Hartman	...	Pedro
Basil Keane	...	Preacher
Bob Charlton	...	Hilton
Winston Stona	...	Detective Ray Jones
Lucia White	...	Mother
Volair Johnson	...	Pushcart Boy
Beverly Anderson	...	Housewife
Clover Lewis	...	Market Woman
Elijah Chambers	...	Longa
Prince Buster	...	DJ at Dance
Ed 'Bim' Lewis	...	Photographer
Bobby Loban	...	Fitz

Also Known As:

Hard Road to Travel (Jamaica: English title) (working title)

Runtime:

USA:120 min | Finland:103 min (TV)

Country:

Jamaica

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:X (original rating) | Australia:M | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Jamaica

Company:

International Films Inc.

Trivia:

The movie is in Jamaican Patois, a creole language which can be understood to some extent by English speakers. There are subtitles in English for much of the movie on the original theatrical print.

Quotes:

DJ: You know, this is show *business*, Baby. No business, no show!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Still Smokin (1983)

Soundtrack:

Rivers of Babylon

Real, raw and a part of my life forever.

This film is a perfect example of the Jamican city struggle, this film is a real depiction of Jamaican people. Technically it is poorly shot and edited, but if you can look past these issues you will have a greater understanding of Jamaican people, the struggles faced and a realization of how the ghettos developed. I lived in Kingston Jamaica in the 80s as a youth, through innocents I loved every part of Jamaica the music, food, people, beaches and weather but not the history or politics which a later learned more about. Jamaica has developed a society through mislead innocents of the youth, selfish politicians who cared for money and power created what Jamaica is today. Imagine coming in from the country as so many did in the 60's & 70's and learning the only work you could find was selling drugs or robbing, Oh no you wouldn't do that? but when a human being begins to starve they will do almost anything to survive it is instinct. This movie is about exactly that survivalist instinct and tendencies.