Cinema is following yet another trend of late with the reprisal of the biopic.
These days it is focused on capturing the lives of some of the greatest musicians we have seen.
It isn’t a new trend if you consider films like Ray (2004) or even the slightly more rudimentary films in this genre like 8 Mile (2002). But ever since Bohemian Rapsody (2018) – the biopic centred on the story of the rock band Queen – more of these have been released or greenlit.
This week, the premiere of Bob Marley: One Love was held around the world. A film depicting the life of one of the greatest musical minds to have ever walked the planet, Bob Marley.
A small but well-attended gathering was held at Ster-Kinekor in Rosebank that also saw a few of Bob Marley’s family members and a couple of local celebrities come out to take in the film.
Read more | Condolences pour in after Hollywood actor Richard Roundtree dies at 81
We notice comedian and actor Trevor Gumbi, with media personality and broadcaster Siyabonga 'Scoop Makhathini' Ngwekazi, and one-half of the Kings of the Weekend DJ Sphectacula in conversation just before the film starts.
"I just found out and it’s crazy to me that he never won a Grammy,” a rather animated Scoop says.
“Are you even surprised though?” Sphe asks.
“Not really. He was so much more than music. But even after his death hook him up. But the man was a profit, it’s crazy how he released music like this then but all that music is still relevant today maybe even more so now," Scoop explains.
“He was a style icon, look at that man’s drip. I didn’t even know what locs were mind you, first saw it with him.”
Scoop went on to say that Bob would be a hard character to play, like Malcolm X or Mic Tyson.
“It is a difficult thing to play a character as powerful as those people. They have a guy from Britain playing him and he is going to have a tough time with my criticisms of the film."
Read more | Denzel Washington to Equalize for a third time alongside Antoine Fuqua in the franchise finale
Sphe has nothing but admiration for the legendary poster boy for reggae music.
“Looking at his artistry, the fact that he could stand by his music and make music that meant so much and inspired people to get up and stand up and rise against the wrongs and ills of the world. He was a voice for the voiceless," the Metro FM DJ says.
The comic, Trevor, lets a subtle silence grip the conversation.
"I feel his voice changed music and his message changed the world,” he stoically chimes.
Upon entry to the space just outside the cinema where the viewing would happen, publicists hand out rasta-coloured bracelets for everyone to wear. They also have alcohol flowing in the lobby which perhaps isn’t all the way blessed by Jah but it does make the wait lively.
After building the anticipation enough the doors are opened and people find their seats. Bob Marley’s son Ziggy Marley appears on the screen smiling down.
Starring: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Lashana Lynch and James Norton.
Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green
2.5/5
Personally, I thought this would follow the expected trajectory of a biopic based on a muso. We start with their childhood, and how they found their way to music. We then see them build this talent, search out opportunity or stumble upon it. Then they find success and reach the stature of an iconoclast, which happens after they battle through some obstacles that come with being creative in the spotlight.
Our protagonist either succumbs to those and dies or beats the urges and setbacks and is celebrated until such a time as they die.
Yes, there is a formula, but it isn’t bad. This feature is not that.
I expected a lot more from this and I felt completely let down. That linear plot line was thrown out the window for a story of Bob that jumped from one point in his life to another in a way that made very little sense. The film felt disjointed. Moments I would like to have been focused on were rushed over, songs visited too shortly like when Bob first strums the song Turn Your Lights Down for his wife Rita. The music is by far as potent as what he stood for as this was the means by which he made this clear. Let that linger and not feel like a cinematic medley.
Read more | REVIEW | My first time at Cape Town Met and why it’s worth attending
Bon Marley was a remarkable man, but he did have his vices and weaknesses none more than his lust for other women, but this too was very lightly touched on. I think that having his family so heavily involved in crafting the way this story was told rendered a film that was pitched like the audience already has an intimate understanding of his life. Ziggy and Rita Marley were very hands-on producers for this production.
Certain things you’re just expected to know about the artist which is why it starts with him as an established force in Jamaica. We don’t see much of what it took for him to get there.
Michael Ward of Top Boy fame basically plays the same role he did in that epic TV series, a shooter and he didn’t even say a word in this.
We skip haphazardly from the famous unity concert after an attempt on Bob’s life was made and, in an instant, he’s in Europe, gallivanting and working on his best work Exodus. What he must have felt after almost being killed and how that and the lifestyle he experienced in Europe surely would have made for an intriguing bit of viewing.
Watching the thoughts morph into chords and harmonies but for a little longer, let that linger on the screen. No, just cut to the next stage of his life or worse, cut back to his childhood and briefly explain how Bob and The Wailers got started and then rush back to the present.
It did at the very least let his creation of the seminal Exodus album, play out in a manner suitable to the moment but his life was littered with instances akin to this one.
The cast was also not the greatest. Michael Ward of Tob Boy fame was used in one scene, given no script and is basically a shooter, much like he was in the drama series Top Boy. For Ray, they used a stellar selection of actors. For the recently praised Elvis (2022) they had Tom Hanks take on the role of the sordid manager who is blamed for Elvis dying. A big-name director would help because respectfully Reinaldo Marcus Green doesn’t have the catalogue to explain why he would be handed the reins on a project like this.
Heavy hitters need to be thrown at stories that involve large characters with uncharted levels of gravitas. This is too standard and shallow to be the story told about the life of Bob Marley.
