Marley (2012)

You won't be disappointed!

Best movie of this year hands down!

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Marley Film Review The life and times of Bob Marley could be an appropriate description for the documentary entitled "Marley". Marley covers the journey of Robert "Bob" Marley, a popular Reggae Singer/ Songwriter from the Sixties to the Eighties. The documentary encompasses Bob Marley's humble beginnings as well as his rise to fame. Bob Marley plays himself, as does his son Ziggy, Rita and Cedella Marley. What made Bob such an Iconic figure was his way of forward thinking, his positivity for Unity and Love. The social, cultural and political issues of the times were a major contributing factor to the formulation and creation of Bob's music and eventual legacy. The incorporation of black and white footage, as well as sepia tones help to recreate Bob Marley's story. The dramatic structure of the documentary effectively captures the viewers' attention. The flashbacks and rough grain film stock give you a sense of the struggle at that time. Bob preached Rastafarianism, love, acceptance and unity he was legendary in his thinking, but his music, his music was revolutionary in the most peaceful way. The vibrations of the thoughts behind the words are truly what made Bob Marley's music ahead of its time. He was so aware and so keen to the illusions that were marketed to the world and he changed that by thinking outside of the box. Bob, like Bruce Lee had such a high vibrational frequency that they raised the energy of all around them. Bruce a master of the martial arts used his talents and skills to spread awareness like Bob. Bob even got shot and performed injured. He made a statement along the lines that evil doesn't take a day off and neither should the righteous. Bob Marley like Michael Jackson created very powerful, soulful and healing music. It wasn't about being commercial, it was about being pure. Bob was born to a Caucasian father and an African American mother. Bob and his friends would often go to sleep hungry because they were so poor. Bob Marley was not rich as most would think, his salary was similar to minimum wage, but he never gave up the fight. He was the light in a world of darkness. Humble, quiet and shy were some of the characteristics friends and family remembered of Bob.On and ending note, Bob did so much with so little and changed the fabric of time with his music, forever to be immortalized on the Earth plane. A true icon, a righteous soul fighting the good fight; that was Marley.

I was 15 when Bob died and had heard several of his songs like most people but I never really listened to him...Nor did I know anything about him. This documentary changed all of that and I happily listen to his really groovy music often. What a great musician! Despite his flaws, what a great man! How did I miss this guy? He got little attention in the Southeast I suppose because he is the wrong color for a lot of people around here...(sigh) The documentary starts kind of slow but it picks up speed quickly and fills you in on a lot of fascinating info on Jamaincan culture and the young Marley climbing out of abject poverty and achieving an exceptional level of greatness. At the end I found myself (and still do days later) dealing with a sense of loss not only because of his death at 36 over 30 years ago but because I never knew the guy and I find that I really like what he was doing and what the doc and his music have told me about him.I'm very happy I watched this documentary and do recommend it to everyone.

Saw this in Korea (with Korean subtitles) on the screen in August 2012. I was already familiar and sympathetic with the highlights of Bob's life, the basic ideas of Rastafari, its ties to the Bible, African power movement. From this vantage point, I watched and very much enjoyed the documentary. In fact, after maybe 30 minutes, after watching some of Bob's moving performances - like a mix between a very enthusiastic evangelical preacher, a rock star, and a Yoruba/African trance priest, very much a unique product that could only have come from his roots - I was unable to sit down, and ended up going to the aisle of the theatre to dance with his music. He's got the "juice" or the "power", and the documentary masterfully blends these well-selected performances with interviews from some entertaining and eccentric characters from his life, including fellow artists such as the righteous Bunny Wailer. These interviews were the other emotionally and intellectually moving aspect of the documentary that kept me on my feet and with tears in my eyes at moments, like a revival! Powerful stuff.On the other hand, the documentary hinted at the political and religious ideas which set the foundation for his life, but did not adequately discuss either of these. It gave a brief hint that Rastafari is not about chillums and dreadlocks (note: these are secondary, not core, components of the belief system), and a brief description about the belief system, but it seemed necessary to know how these beliefs tied in with political ideas, since it was apparent that Bob's political ideas were central to the path he took, in Jamaica and abroad. It hints that his political ideas have something to do with Africa (with the visits from Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie I, mentions about Jamaicans being united as former slaves, and the concert in Zimbabwe which was tear- gassed), but even a short discussion or interview about his political ideas would have lent a better context to the events portrayed in the movie (maybe the director could've replaced some of the rather pointless clips of chillum smoking with this background information). I'm going to have to go to google after writing this review to learn more about this, as the movie piqued my curiosity...Also, as another reviewer suggests, the documentary probably doesn't do a satisfactory job of introducing someone who is unfamiliar with Bob and the related movements to the man and his work (since to many people, he's a poster boy for m*rijuana smoking and dreadlocks). Maybe introducing his political/philosophical ideals as a subtext for his life and work would have clarified this - again, the documentary hints about the power his ideas held for audience members, particularly in Jamaica, but leaves exactly what these ideas are as an unsatisfactory blank.Still, the documentary was very moving given my already somewhat sympathetic/researched vantage point. If you're interested in learning more about the man behind the college dorm posters, or Rastafari in general, I can recommend it as a starting point. Maybe it's a good thing to keep in mind that the people depicted (in Jamaica) are only a few generations descended from slaves taken from Africa, Africa is seen as the "Promised Land" to them, and their current predicament is seen as parallel to the predicament of the Jews in the Old Testament, and they similar Biblical parallels for their current situation. This may help clarify the context in which Bob Marley's life played itself out.

I'll admit freely that I hadn't looked at any biography of Mr. Marley (please tell me you didn't think this movie had anything to do with that dog film starring Owen Wilson? Thanks), so maybe that helped or it didn't while watching this. But I think this is as accurate and fully explored as far as biographies go. It covers quite a lot of ground and is a really satisfying look behind the curtains of a man that more than influenced (music) history.It might be a bit too long for some, but the time is needed to explore as much as I stated above. If you like the music or music in general and don't mind documentaries, you can't go wrong with this one (throwing in a few songs for good measure).