MARLEY directed by Kevin MacDonald (USA/UK, 2012)
This is an exemplary, informative and almost certainly definitive, documentary of the short life of one of popular music’s last truly inspirational global superstars.
The Scottish director wisely chose to confine the interviews to family, friends, musicians and producers who knew Bob Marley personally and/or were instrumental in his rise to stardom.
Without the cloying or pretentious accounts of fans and self-appointed experts, we get a refreshingly warts and all perspective.
The result is that Marley is portrayed neither as a saint nor as a sinner but as an enormously gifted yet flawed human being.
Marley’s ambition and fierce determination made him a hard father, a wayward husband and a demanding musical leader. But through it all he managed to earn an unprecidented level of respect because he was able to maintain his spiritual values and political credibility. Continue reading
This is an ambitious, well researched and highly informative historical study of a strand of popular music that seems to be largely on the wane.
