Nothing at all "bad" about this film/pseudo-documentary. Only awesome... Set in Kingston, Jamaica in 1978, ROCKERS follows Leroy "Horsemouth" Johnson (the drummer for Burning Spear) around while he's hustling "like rain drops".
A near perfect flick, ROCKERS began as a documentary of the booming reggae/dub scene in Jamaica in the late 70s. The film features many dudes from the period many call the "peak" of that scene including Burning Spear, Gregory Isaacs, and one of my favorites Big Youth. The cinematography is simultaneously beautiful and unique and the subtlety in which some of the scenes are shot is genius. Looking it up, apparently this dude Ted Bafaloukos didn't make anymore movies. That's a shame. Story follows Horsemouth (a session drummer) while he's trying to borrow enough money from buddies and his old lady to buy himself a motorcycle. He figures he can make some bread if can sell 45s for the record company. But first he needs wheels. And then after he gets the wheels, first and foremost, he must get the Lion of Judah painted on the side. Then "Iman" goes to the record company to convince the man to give him 200 records to sell. When he gets them, he goes around selling 45s to the shops in Kingston. Then he goes to a party, and his bike gets stolen! Then he's bummed. Basically the plot moves from "the Bicycle Thief" to "Robin Hood". One of the best scenes is when he's bummed out and he goes to his buddies house to tell him someone "thiefed" his bike. His buddy says, "I and I will go out, fuck it." and they go down to the river and sit on the bank and light up 2 joints, and then his buddy sings him a song. Its so KILLER! Highly recommended for a laid back stoney night. Here's a bonus clip from the movie. Its a scene where Kiddus I is in the studio recording vocal tracks. His voice is so powerful. cheer up cheer up cheer up Rockers!!
No comments:
Post a Comment