The Harder They Come(1972)
As I sit here writing the review for
The Harder They Come, I listen to the film's soundtrack by actor and musician Jimmy Cliff.
You Can Get It If You Really Want and the self-titled
The Harder They Come play in a loop, for the songs are inseparable from the film and their beat and pulse make the film come alive. Reggae was known before films release, however it really was
The Harder They Come that made the genre international with its spectacular hit soundtrack, and it would set the stage for latter musicians such as Bob Marley.
The Harder They Come ran amongst the midnight movie circuit in the 1970's, and in many theaters, (such as the Elgin which was synonymous with the creation of midnight movies), the film played for several years every weekend. It helped introduce American's to Jamaican films, a foreign culture at that time, and was one of the first Jamaican films to be released in the United States.
There is something to be said about this film. Though its soundtrack was, and still is, a total knock out. The film itself, though completely legitimately Jamaican, has an American appeal. It is almost as American as apple pie, and I'm not trying to steal the flame of its rightful Jamaican heritage, but part of its appeal to the American audience is that it works within the context of "The Dream". In America we have all heard of and were raised on the stories of "The Dream", what we know of here as "The American Dream", whether it be Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Dream" for opportunity and equal rights for people of all colors, all the way down to a vision of Al Capone's "Dream" of ruthless renegade corporate ambition. "The Dream", notice I'm not saying "The American Dream", is illustrated in this film. For "The Dream" exists outside of American culture. Everyone has "The Dream", its what keeps us alive; its our hopes, our ambitions, our modus operandi; and without it we may never strive to go forward. That's where this film works. It works on what I like to call the "Universal Concept" level.
The film is about Ivanhoe "Rhyging" Martin, based on a real Jamaican outlaw and folk hero. How interesting that again we see a similar theme and a cross between cultures. The famous/infamous outlaw which is regarded as folk hero is not limited just to the American West, but this sometimes obtuse vision of "romanticized crime" is open wide to the world. Ivanhoe in real life even being refered to as "The Jamaican Dillinger", again, an American-influenced name. And still today his myth in Jamaica continues with the story of "Duppy", (a ghost or spirit), of him exists in Jamaican children's stories. To bridge a gap here, we can see these myths predominat in very own culture; American children are raised on stories of the outlaw west, and mythos such as Paul Bunyan and his Blue Ox, (while nothing but a exaggerated myth), are in the same vain as "Rhyging the Duppy". To go further, Jimmy Cliff, (the actor/musician who plays him in the movie), refers to him as "Robin Hood". Again, we work here with "Universal Concepts", and that's the cinematic pulse that helps keep this film standing tall.
As I've illustrated, we've all seen this film before in America. What we refer to as "The American Dream" comes through in melody with the films opening song,
You Can Get It If You Really Want:
You can get it if you really want
You can get it if you really want
You can get it if you really want
But you must try, try and try
Try and try, you'll succeed at last
Persecution you must bear
Win or lose you've got to get your share
Got your mind set on a dream
You can get it, though harder them seem now
You can get it if you really want
You can get it if you really want
You can get it if you really want
But you must try, try and try
Try and try, you'll succeed at last
I know it, listen
Rome was not built in a day
Opposition will come your way
But the hotter the battle you see
It's the sweeter the victory, now
You can get it if you really want
You can get it if you really want
You can get it if you really want
But you must try, try and try
Try and try, you'll succeed at last
You can get it if you really want
You can get it if you really want
You can get it if you really want
But you must try, try and try
Try and try, you'll succeed at last
You can get it if you really want - I know it
You can get it if you really want - though I show it
You can get it if you really want
- so don't give up now
Scarface: The Shame of a Nation and its latter remake, (which came after this film), shares the films under current of an ordinary guy with huge dreams of making it big in a world confined by rules and regulations. What he, Ivan, wants more than anything is freedom. He is a songwriter, a bird, who needs to sing and have the freedom to fly away. He doesn't fit in to the confines of church, the rules of the bible are too constricting. Therefore, the world, and even the heavens, reject him. So when his plans for commercial success of his "would-be-hit" album fail to make ends meet, he resorts to selling ganga, but he doesn't want to be a mere seller, he wants to be at the top, regardless of those who tell them to, "Ask no questions, and tell no lies". Since his methods don't suit well with his superiors, they try and bump him off, but an outlaw will never be taken down without a fight. Freedom for him is too valuable. I suppose it does say something about greed; but it is the greed for money, fame, and power that makes us more free than others. Soon after he has become a "World Infamous" outlaw his "would-be-hit" becomes "hit" with
The Harder They Come:
Well they tell me of a pie up in the sky
Waiting for me when I die
But between the day you're born and when you die
They never seem to hear even your cry
So as sure as the sun will shine
I'm gonna get my share now of what's mine
And then the harder they come the harder they'll fall, one and all
Ooh the harder they come the harder they'll fall, one and all
Well the officers are trying to keep me down
Trying to drive me underground
And they think that they have got the battle won
I say forgive them Lord, they know not what they've done
So as sure as the sun will shine
I'm gonna get my share now of what's mine
And then the harder they come the harder they'll fall, one and all
Ooh the harder they come the harder they'll fall, one and all
ooh yeah oh yeah woh yeah ooooh
And I keep on fighting for the things I want
Though I know that when you're dead you can't
But I'd rather be a free man in my grave
Than living as a puppet or a slave
So as sure as the sun will shine
I'm gonna get my share now of what's mine
And then the harder they come the harder they'll fall, one and all
Ooh the harder they come the harder they'll fall, one and all
Yeah, the harder they come, the harder they'll fall one and all
What I say now, what I say now, awww
What I say now, what I say one time
The harder they come the harder they'll fall one and all
Ooh the harder they come the harder they'll fall one and all
He now becomes his own hit, he is the chart-topper. Though he foreshadows his own doom in his own song, he doesn't seem to mind. For living the rogue life of seemingly unlimited freedom is better than living without it and being truly, by his terms, dead. The film even calls out to the notion that the hero "can't die till the last reel", alluding to
Django which was seen earlier in the picture. How interesting therefore that we do not see an American western, but rather a Spaghetti western. Is this film trying to beat out the concept, which I mentioned prior to this discourse, that "The Dream" is not limited to America?
It is a marvelous film regardless. Though I have not come around to it completely, (due to the fact I have not seen it as much as I'd like), which inevitably hurts his rating with me; I suspect
The Harder They Come is going to be one of those movies which is much ahead of me. It will take time for me to completely be flowing on its cinematic and musical level, but once I get there, I'm sure I will have felt I've reached the promised land; The Land of Opportunity.
My Rating:
4 Stars of 5