Rockers
Horsemouth, a drummer living in a ghetto of Kingston, plans to make money selling records. After his prized motorcycle is stolen, his plans fall through and he's forced to adapt.
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- Cast:
- Robbie Shakespeare
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Reviews
People are voting emotionally.
if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.
True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.
An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.
Reggae was a well established part of popular culture in the late 1970s, so it only made sense that there would be a movie focusing on Jamaica. Ted Bafaloukos's "Rockers" focuses on a drummer whose motorcycle gets stolen. It's sort of "The Bicycle Thief" meets Robin Hood.The characters break the fourth wall in a few scenes, and most of the dialogue is subtitled due to the thick accents. Basically, this is the textbook definition of true-to-life. Apparently, Bafaloukos (originally from Greece) first went to Jamaica in 1975 as a freelance photographer for Island Records, and the Jamaicans mistook him for a CIA agent. Whatever the case, he turned out one impressive movie. This one, "The Harder They Come" and "Land of Look Behind" (about Bob Marley's funeral) are the trio of great movies about Jamaica.
Basically devoid of anything as utterly redundant as a plot, storyline or a script (bah!) we dive into everyday life of rastas, their music and challenges they face. Instead of setting out a story we muse the town hustling with drumming legend Horsemouth (almost everyone here plays themselves and several scenes even go as far as to break the fourth wall), as he borrows money, buy a bike, starts distributing CDs, gets robbed, recaptures his bike, gets beaten and finally enacts sweet Robin Hood-esque vengeance on the big boys responsible.Accompanying by a crew of rasta's of worldwide fame, like Jacob Miller, Gregory Isaacs, Robbie Shakespeare and so forth he has Jah on his side and enough laid back love attitude to capture the hearts and minds of unsuspecting viewers. At times utterly hilarious, else just fascinating, even if half the time is spent on deciphering Jamaican patois (which is actually vastly enjoyable in itself) into something slightly recognisable. Features a classic scene, where Richard 'Dirty Harry' Hall occupies a DJ booth and then resists Babilon with true rastafari class.Techincally astute with some beautiful shots, as well as some classy laid-back artistry. Essential watching as a world cinema cinematographic gem. Especially if you want to end up all gushy-gooey feel-good after viewing, sight?
One of my all time favorites! I've been looking for this one for a long long time. Having very strong documentary features, this film keeps surprising the viewer every minute. It is (at least for the first half an hour or so) as if someone just shouldered a camera and followed Horsemouth around Kingston doing his daily hustlin' business. Most of the the main characters are real people, playing themselves, esp. reggae artists and producers, and most of the locations are real as well. Later the plot turns into kind of a Robin Hood scenario, when the ghetto people strike back against the upper class mafia guys. What I like most about this movie is its many layers. It's like a deep insight into Jamaican society of the late 70's, the golden era of roots reggae, in all its many aspects like class struggle, Rastafari, family and religious issues. Several times, like in the opening scene or when Horsey gets punched by Sunshine's father, characters directly address the viewer personally by facing the camera which I've never seen used like this anywhere else. Technically it's remarkably well done (apart from some pretty dark underexposed moments), for instance they manage to have many songs of the soundtrack coming from actual sources in the picture. In one word: Great stuff, not only if you're into old school dub and reggae. If you have it, treasure it! If you don't, get it and then treasure it.
Incredible film! I watch this movie everyday after work. My favorite part is when Dirty Harry took over the DJ Booth with "Queen Majesty". "Money Worries" by The Maytones and "Natty Take Over" by Justin Hinds are my favorites for the underscore. The DVD is best for its quality on the soundtrack.