Marley remains elusive
ON Thursday evening, the Emancipation Park in St Andrew was invaded by family, friends and admirers for the premiere of Marley, the latest documentary about reggae legend Bob Marley.
It was a star-studded affair with entertainers, government ministers and members of the Marley family sharing the moment.
The film, which is almost two-and-a -half hours, is entertaining. It brought to light little-known facts about the singer/songwriter who died in May, 1981 from cancer.
Such as the incident in Africa when Marley beat his manager Don Taylor. The singer got upset when he found out Taylor over-charged for a performance in 1979.
Taylor’s dishonesty resulted in Marley “slapping him up”, according to Marley insider Neville Garrick.
Marley’s children, Cedella and Ziggy, give insight into how their father prepared them to be tough. They said they had few friends in the 1970s because of the stigma attached to Rastafarians.
The old man’s way of dealing with it was: “you don’t need friends, you have your brothers and your sisters!”
A poignant moment in the film is when Bob’s sister Constance commented on her brother’s rejection by his British father’s family.
“He now became ‘The Marley’. No one knows what happened to the rest, he’s in the forefront now. Isn’t that amazing?”
Through singer Judy Mowatt, viewers got a sense of the inner turmoil Marley experienced when he was diagnosed with cancer.
She said during rehearsals, he once sang I’m Hurting Inside for three hours straight.
Those are some of the film’s dramatic moments but the real Bob remained elusive. I came away with the feeling that you still don’t know the man, something director kevin macdonald said was his ultimate goal.
Yes, you enjoyed his music, got engulfed in the stories, and comments from the legend himself … but not enough.
Among those who turned out for the premier were Marley protegé Nadine Sutherland, culture minister Lisa Hanna, her opposition counterpart Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange, Opposition leader Andrew Holness, former prime minister Edward Seaga, and state minister in the tourism and entertainment ministry, Damian Crawford.
