Bob Marley

   

Let me preface this blog post by first saying that I started watching Marley (2012) not knowing much about Bob. I guess I had him wrapped up as just a really chill musician who smoked a lot of weed and enjoyed warm sunny days on the beach in beautiful Jamaica. 

Scottish filmmaker Kevin Macdonald contends that Bob Marley is very much a kindred soul who found himself in a place to bring about real change in others' lives and the course of history through his music.

In depth interviews with Bob's wife, his children, his siblings, his friends, fellow bandmates, business partners and other stars including Jimmy Cliff and Neville 'Bunny' Livingston of The Wailers. 

The film begins with an arial shot of a rural picturesque Jamaican landscape guiding us to the Bob's birthplace. Interviews with the superstar's siblings, old school teacher and with villagers tell the story of his childhood as a half-white and half-black kid in a small impoverished town.

Bob Marley's dad, Norval Marley, a white Marine from England, did not play an active role his Bob's Life. Bob's mother, Cedella Booker, a black Jamaican girl, gave birth to Marley at age 18 and raised him through childhood. The filmaker uses Bob's mixed identity later in the film to explain his unique behavior and offer a sort of Ying-Yang analogy.

Through found interviews with Bob, the superstar comes to life, telling his own story throughout the film. Rare footage combined with, what I assume to be actor reenactments, stunning visuals also bring this film to life.

The director covers Bob's rise to fame, his cult-like following, his philosophy, and his historial impact on the world and specifically on Jamaica. Jamaica, at the time of Bob's rise, was going through a gang-like bloody political civil war. Bob was not immune to the spillover violence.

The film uses primary source interviews to detail an assassination attempt on Marley's life in Kingston, Jamaica by a political gangster, that thankfully failed. Bob had been shot in the leg and easily recovered. Interviewers say that Bob felt hurt emotionally after the attack.

However, Bob used the attack as a source of inspiration and adopted a respectable sense of martyrdom. After touring abroad after the attack to rest his mind, he returned to Jamaica to play a free concert promoting peace. Both party leaders in the civil war were in attendance. 

Through stunning found footage of the concert, Bob is seen passionately and instinctively in a spur of the moment trance inviting both warring political leaders up to the stage. On stage, he gathered them together and held their hands in a stunning show of unity and togetherness. This scene encapsulates the film's main message that Bob is more than just a musician, but rather a meaningful and unifying messenger of peace.

This film, brings the reggae star to life in an equally entertaining and transformative way that allows audiences to leave with a sense that they too have experienced first-hand the magic that is Bob Marley.