Bob Marley: One Love, directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, starring Kingsley Ben-Adir, Lashana Lynch, James Norton, Micheal Ward, Michael Gandolfini, Sam Palladio, Anthony Welsh, Tosin Cole, American biopic, 107 min, 2024, not recommended for children under 16!
I and I, or the dreadlocks consider every man a whole part of themselves
When you think about it, one of the most difficult genres to create is the biopic, and within that genre it is particularly complicated to create a work that does not take as its subject newspaper stories or forgotten histories, but cult celebrities, historical figures and/or artists. Despite the easy money (everyone is interested in Marilyn Monroe, Steve Jobs, Jim Morrison or Abraham Lincoln), there is an almost infinite number of narratives, opinions and interpretations of these figures in the public discourse, so the creator can easily find himself caught in the crossfire of almost insoluble dilemmas. "Should I give a personal interpretation? Or objective? Should it be a huge historical tableau or an intimate (melo)drama? What should I offer to the fan-expert? And how do I persuade those who disagree with me to accept my work?" After a recent attempt (Napoleon, which I judged less harshly) that many considered a fiasco, we have again the chance to see a feature film adaptation of the life of an icon.
When I finished watching Bob Marley: One Love, I was wondering (among many other things) how to stay true to the reggae musician's spirit and positive message. Even if it's a contrived solution, I'll say this: talk about the negatives of the movie first, then the positives. The film is structured in roughly the same way, moving from infighting and gunplay to world fame and a peace concert - perhaps unfortunately for the film.
Bob Marley is one of the icons of the second half of the 20th century, the Beatles and Nelson Mandela united in one person, pop music is rarely so political, politics rarely so popular. The two have somehow drifted apart over time (nowadays they may be coming closer again, see the success of the Crabs), although in principle they are all about the same thing and to the same people, and Marley is the greatest testimony to this. In his music, even love is freed from selfish individualism or soulless consumerism and becomes a humanist message of solidarity and even unity.
The story takes place in Jamaica, a country sharply divided by political parties. An up-and-coming reggae musician, already a household name in his homeland, is about to perform a peace concert with his band, but the public climate is tense until he sends his family to America and his good self defects to England with his fellow musicians to create in peaceful conditions. And with it, he sets off on his quest for world fame.
Everyone is illegitimate who wants to rule, Marley states something to that effect in the opening scene of the film, sitting in a press conference. Jamaican public conditions and music, the tension between the two, a great start. In a similar vein, the first segment of the film is exciting and interesting, but the film falls apart from the moment of defection. Characters come and go, with only one or two scenes for everyone except Marley and his wife. We scratch our heads (nothing new, you get the same information if you Google the musician's name), world fame, touring, a flurry of interviews, smooches with Western European socialites.
The character's wife, Rita, freaks out about this, but how, why, and for what motive is covered by the film's capriciousness (because it's not enough to puff on philosophical templates, we would expect more from the three (! ) (including Terence Winter, the showrunner(!) of the brilliant Gangster Corsair). In the big rush, only the surface remains, and the film is transformed into a Wikipedia article adaptation of Marley's life. The world-famous Exodus album, skin cancer, the African protest concert, everything is rushed through, there is no time to go into anything in depth, let alone to deepen and unfold the segments on the basis of a coherent concept...
And perhaps most sadly, the political thread that starts at the beginning of the film is relegated to the background, almost disappearing, if Marley didn't keep mantraing that the music and the message are one and the same (which, I say, is a strong idea, but it's not enough). We don't see any of the Jamaican riots, an audience-friendly film, of course, without any upsetting scenes (although for true peace and reconciliation, discord and suffering are needed first to feel the true weight of things).
Based on this, we could bury
Bob Malrey: One Love, but it's not quite so apocalyptic. The musical scenes (which are not cut up in montages) are worth reading, something of the philosophy of reggae as a style and worldview really comes through, and the presentation of the Rastafarian religion adds to this - if anything, Marley's philosophy and worldview is presented in a sensitive and pithy (though not too in-depth) way; at least I was in the mood to read up on it. (Footnote: let me take this opportunity to recommend, at least on the level of a mention, one of the best series of all time,
Steve McQueen's Little Axe anthology series Lovers Rock.)
The other thing I would highlight is the actors' delicious Jamaican accents, which you don't hear every day, they even built a funny scene around it - and en bloc the actors are fine, Kingsley Ben-Adir dancing credibly on stage.
Overall, Bob Marley: One Love is not a very memorable piece. It is by no means hideous, it is not a spit in the face of the reggae icon or the viewer, it is simply a "go out and get it" film. Something you can get by with while you watch it, but afterwards it doesn't have many recurring memories. Instead, perhaps the
2012 docu film Marley is a good recommendation. Verdict: 6/10
If you wants to "read" free audiobooks with your ears, here is a copy to you: So Much Things to Say: The Oral History of Bob Marley
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