Movies and Reggae / Rasta / Jamaica

[Javier]

I'm very fond of movies and I would like everyone help me to make a list of movies about Reggae and/or Rasta, or movies filmed in Jamaica, or movies where Reggae songs or Rasta characters appear, I think could be a very fun topic and of course, I would dedicate my time to watch the ones I haven't seen yet...

Here my first try... I will write in brackets the description

THE HARDER THEY COME (Obvious)
COUNTRYMAN (Obvious)
ROCKERS (Obvious)
BABYLON (Starring Brinsley Forde from Aswad)
DANCEHALL QUEEN (Obvious)
SHOTTAS (Starring Kymani Marley)
ONE LOVE (Starring Kymani Marley)
THE MIGHTY QUEEN (Filmed in Jamaica, starring Denzel Washington, lots of reggae music throught the movie, Michael Rose & Rita Marley sing "Guess who's coming" at the begining of the movie, in a wedding)
50 FIRST DATES (Starring Adam Sandler and filmed in Hawai I guess, lots of Reggae throught the movie)
NEW JACK CITY (Eek-a-Mouse plays the role of Ganja-dealer Rasta who is killed by a shot in the head)
IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER (Daniel Day-Lewis is wrongly imprisoned, and his mate I think was a Rastaman, I recall he was listening "Is this love" in a scene of the movie...

I'm sure there are many more that in this moment I can't recall, there's one with Steven Segal where Rastas are mafia boys...

C'mon I'm sure it's a pretty fun topic...
Jah Bless

[ranking trevor]

Try


Babylon walls burning (quite rare film, made in 1963 - starring rockers & papa hotsoup)

Thrid world Cop (quite recent, i think 1998, violent/action film about a cop named capone dealing with a run down city/druglords)

Jimmy Cliff "The Harder They Come" (Jamaican-made 1973 classic)

Peter Tosh "Stepping Razor: Red X" ( documentary)

Voices of Jamaica "Live in Concert" (feat. a lot of artists)

JAH Bless

[James]

The Rasta as gangsta thing has always bothered me. I know there's all kinds of people everywhere, but it seems to me that true Rasta is not down with gangsta.

Then there's The Harder They Come, but Ivan never struck me as being Rasta, so that didn't bother me as much. If anything, he seems caught between babylon and Rasta, with the tragedy being that he couldn't sort it out in time to save himself.

Of course, my opinion plus a couple bucks will get you a cup of coffee--as long as the coffee doesn't cost more than the two bucks.

Peace,

James

[ranking trevor]

You probably wont find

Babylon walls burning (quite rare film, made in 1963 - starring rockers & papa hotsoup)

as its rare

But i & i as a rastaman dont belive that a view of a certain person can be carried and used as true, so rastaman as gangsta is madness. as selassie say i & i should live in peace love an inety with one another - seen.

But anyway respeck

[todd]

Smile Orange- 1976

Filmed in Jamaica. Pokes fun at the tourism industry.

[Javier]

please don't lose the thread... we're talking about movies, with reggae/rasta/jamaican features... I'm quite aware that many supposedly Rasta characters in movies are stereotypes or even false characterizations (like mafia rastas) so I say again, just for fun, let's try to make a list of movies... Please leave Reggae Documentaries aside

thanks for your remarks

Blessed!

[Javier]

I forgot...
Cool Runnings: "Our Father, who art in Calgary, Bobsled be thy name. Thy kingdom come, gold medals won, on Earth as it is in Turn Seven. With Liberty and Justice for Jamaica and Haile Selassie. Amen."

Blessed!

[James]

Sorry, got on my soapbox by mistake there.

How about Rude Boy? It's been since '80 when it came out that I saw it last, but I seem to recall Mikey Dread in a walk-on.

I could be wrong on that since I'm depending on a very old memory, so please correct me if need be.

Peace,

James

[Rob]

"Johnny Was" is another one to add to the list. The movie was only average, but the music throughout was amazing. Adrian Sherwood compiled the soundtrack and included a bunch of On-U-Sound productions.

Also, the new movie "Haven" had a couple crucial songs in it. However, this movie takes place in the Cayman Islands, not the JA.

Both good movies to watch!

[benjamin]

"Booklyn Babylon" with the singer of The Roots features some nice scenes with rastas, the soundtrack is really interesting

You also have "Kiss of the dragon" with bridget fonda which features tunes from the Congos in the soundtrack