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.
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.
