“Marley,” a documentary directed by Kevin
Macdonald (“The Last King of Scotland”), is a thorough account of Robert Nesta Marley’s
rise from a poor Jamaican country boy to a bona fide Third World superstar.
Lost in the “Legend” (a greatest hits album that
brought him posthumous success in the US) is Marley & the original Wailers’
early Studio One ska, the record breaking European tour in the 70s and the
politically charged music towards the end of his career.
Macdonald lets the story speak for itself through
concert footage, present day interviews with friends and family members, and
the obligatory photos with Ken Burns effect.
Born to an African-Jamaican mother and an absent
white English-Jamaican father, Marley’s racial identity crisis is highlighted
throughout the film, as is his own unorthodox family life. He fathered eleven children across
seven different relationships, all the while publicly denying his lifelong
marriage to Rita, who sang backup on his tour as part of the I-Threes. Some of the more telling emotional
interviews in the film are with Marley’s children, who remember him as strict
and unavailable.
Marley was no saint but he wasn’t just the Rasta
stoner that some reduce him to today, and that’s where “Marley” fails. Clocking in just shy of two and a half
hours, this film is not going to be accessible to the layman, but it is a fine
supplement to those already familiar with the story and certainly the most
comprehensive film on the singer’s life to date.
“Marley” is playing in select theaters and is
available On Demand.
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