Rockers review

1. How does the main character, Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace, compare to the other main characters (Ivan Martin and Derrick Thompson) in the first two films we saw?

They all share a struggle to achieve their dreams given their social situation, mostly because of poverty, although Derrick's struggle comes from a political divide rather than resources.
It's reminiscent with what is going on in Chile, or rather, what has been going on for years. Countless kids and adults alike have dreams that given their situation are stuck in a reality that makes it if not difficult, impossible. The portrayal of all these characters display similar struggles in different context, like in Horsemouth's case he is subjected by a person from the ruling class to achieve is goal and is actively boycotting his progress. At the end, there is this pillage on his house that reminds me of the ones that have been going on in Chile, where in a lot of cases all the goods are distributed to those in dire need, like what happens in the movie. Derrick Thompson shows that peace is a privilege to a lot of people, even if there are resources to pursue goals. While the political divide is rather different from what happens here, there are parts of this country that regardless of your resources, where you live could be a dangerous place, and it's even worse in other countries in Latin America. Ivan is a more "happy-go-lucky" character, with some conflict resolutions are a little more absurd than the other films. Regardless, it still shows that there are those less fortunate and highly disadvantaged people in the world, but in these cases, there is optimism and hope for the characters, although in Derrick's case it had a terrible price.


2. Did you like or dislike the film? Why/Why Not?

I have mixed feelings about it. For some weird reason, the camera work was a bit inconsistent. By no means it was bad, not at all, in fact there is a long take at the beginning that I was legitimately impressed by, but that same level of expertise isn't really shown in many occasions later, when it did, I was inmersed in it. However,  I didn't like  the strange PowerPoint-like transitions it used throughout the movie either, they threw me off every time.
Story-wise, I didn't like how the story felt like it revolved around the stolen motorcycle more than the "gangster-ish" antagonist and Horsemouth's goal to be a musician, making the goal of the character centered in something like what's called a "MacGuffin = an object, device, or event that is necessary to the plot and the motivation of the characters, but insignificant, unimportant, or irrelevant in itself."
But enough negatives, I enjoyed the "vibe" the movie had, with the music, the colors and the characters, which is what I value the most from it. All of the characters had traits of their own that, even if they were slightly filler at a times, the acting still made up for it. I actually found really funny the portrayal of the white characters, not just because we barely had seen any throughout the 3 movies we've seen, but also it shows the perspective the Jamaicans have of them, very hollywood-esque. The colors are a middle ground between both previous movies, not as colorful as "The harder they come" but still attractive, the music is catchy and enjoyable, and the general ambience as well.
Overall, it's an enjoyable movie despite its flaws, and I think it's a milestone for the local film industry considering the year it was released, it showed that it was headed in the right direction.


3. In conclusion to our Jamaican film unit, which was your favorite film of all 3? Why?

Even with all the critizism I had for it, Ghett'a life is the one that had me more invested in the characters and the plot. Internally, I was rooting for Derrick's success which while I didn't doubt it'd happen, the cost of achieving it had me very focused on the movie. There were many characters, like their parents or Gully rat that added dimention to the plot, whereas in the other movies a lot of the characters didnt had as much presence. The struggles seemed very realistic although some of the situations did came a bit over the top, like the "stealth" scene didnt felt like they belonged to the rest of the movie.
All three movies however, were different in style and aesthetic, which I think it was a really good selection and a good unit. I'd probably never seen them by myself, so being "exposed" to them was something I'm thankful for. I didnt particularly dislike the other movies, all of them had strengths and weaknesses. Personally, I would have shown them in the release date order, to see the progress of their industry so to speak.

Ghett'a life review

1. Who was your favorite character (s) from the film? Why?

My favorite character from the film was Gully Rat, mostly because it's a character that has an interesting evolution throughout the story, and being also part of the protagonist's inner conflict with politics and friendship. By evolution I mean its relationship with the character, starting as a rival of Derrick, he then realizes that he is willing to help regardless of political stances, which in turn makes him admire him. His final sacrifice was predictable, but because of how the character evolved through the movie, it did feel emotional at least to me.

2. How do we see the political conflict portrayed in the film? Remember to use the article Michael Manley's Vision to help you

The movie takes place nearing the elections of two parties, the People's National Party (PNP) and the Jamaican Labour Party (JLP). We see it in two colors, orange and green respectively, and there are flags throughout the movie which tells which part of the territory belongs to each party, and Gully rat wears green to represent his party. The conflict depicted in the film is very violent, with Don establishing a reign of terror (which apparently no one liked since in the ending it's clear that no one was really going to miss him), to the point of armed conflict and sort of turf wars developing in the movie. We see parties doing whatever it takes to win the elections, even if it costs the life of some.

3. How are woman portrayed in this film? Is it a little or big advancement compared to The Harder They Come?

Definetly an advancement, although not perfect. There is the romantic interest which started as a strong woman but then quickly faded into the background, making her appearance in the story irrelevant at some point. On the other hand, Derrick's mother is a character willing to stand by the people she cares about, even if it nearly cost's her life, and it's clearly not a filler character since it's her who convinces his father to go ahead and pursue his dream. 
Unlike "The harder they come", where there was little relevance to the female character other than being like an "accesory" of the protagonist.

The harder they come Review

1. In general, what did you like and dislike about the film?

Something that inmediatly caught my attention was the color pallete and the whole atmosphere that the film presented. Very colorful, and very cheerful, regardless of the socioeconomical situation of the characters. The music also added to the overall quality of the film. Camera wise, since thats my thing, the use of zoom ins and zoom outs, optically, worked a lot better than what I'm used to with such technique.

Something that disappointed me about the film is that the final act went chaotic, which is a departure from the rest of the story. I also didn't like that the end was like "it was all a movie" but thats personal prefference.

2. Who's your favorite character from the film?

Overall I didn't particularly like any of the characters by themselves, all of them were kind of erratic and lacked a consistent appearence other than the protagonist, however I liked the misterious appearence of Jose, with it's excentric hair style and subtle threats towards the protagonist. A true gangster from where he is from, handing guns to Ivan, being also a middleman to some of the things other characters need, and yet being the traitor of the story.

3. Would you recommend this movie?

I would, there is definetly something unique about it, wether it's the aesthetics, the acting, the music, everything as a whole creates an atmosphere that submerges the spectator on the country.  

Unfortunately caribbean films are mostly ignored by the general population, specially here in Chile. Also I think it sets an example of a truly national film, embracing their culture, something that I think Chile lacks because of how inequal our society is. While it's definetly different in quality, I couldn't help but think of the brazilian film "City of god". I'd warn them about how cheesy it can become from time to time, mostly towards the end, but still has it's charm to it. 

4. How does this film contribute to postcolonial identity? 

One important thing is that apparently the actors used were common people, so this way it shows an authentic portrayal of Jamaican culture and according to nytimes, it was the first independent, homemade, Jamaican film that, while it was directer by a white person, it was co-written by Trevor Rhone, a Jamaican writer, making it a first step for the nation's culture and a kickstart of their industry