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.