Marley

Composite Score: 82.7

Featuring: Bob Marley, Ziggy Marley, Rita Marley, Jimmy Cliff, Cedella Marley, Cindy Breakspeare, Chris Blackwell, Constance Marley, Lee “Scratch” Perry, and Bunny Wailer

Director: Kevin Macdonald

Genres: Documentary, Biography, Music

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for drug content, thematic elements, and some violent images

Box Office: $3.84 million worldwide

Why should you Watch This Film?

                Marley is the documentary about the life, career, death, and impact of the Jamaican musician Bob Marley. It looks at his entire life from humble birth to tragically young death and everything in between on its quest to present an honest picture of who Bob Marley was. Along the way, it touches on the evolution of reggae music, the impact of Rastafarianism, the politics of 1970s Jamaica, and the anti-colonial bent of Marley’s music. It is a powerful documentary, giving audiences a relatively full, warts-and-all look at the prolific artist and his impact on music, his peers, and the world as a whole.

Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?

                As is often the case with documentaries, Marley does not try hard to cater to audiences with no prior interest in Marley and/or his music. The film dives headfirst into Marley’s life, family history, and music, presupposing a general audience interest in the topics. By no means should this be a knock against the film overall, just a note that people looking for the documentary to welcome them slowly into the world of Marley are in for a rude awakening if they give this particular film a try.

                The other piece of this documentary that I found to be mildly problematic is the director himself. Not that Kevin Macdonald is a bad person, just that he brings to the film a lot of “Western” presuppositions that end up putting Marley and his lifestyle and beliefs almost on trial in a way that feels off. It’s not even that Macdonald’s intention is to accuse Marley of anything, at least not that I can tell, but by his very nature, Macdonald brings certain inherent biases to the table in the filmmaking that do make the film a bit more accessible for Western audiences but also alienate Marley in the process. Were the director more directly connected to Marley or Rastafarianism or reggae or Jamaica, I feel like these issues would not be as present in the film. At the end of the day, the film does do a really good job of representing Marley’s message though, so he seems decently able to stay out of his own way.

So wait, why should you Watch This Film?

                As a biography and attempt to capture the essence of Bob Marley, this documentary is a triumph. It delivers a rich mix of relatives, musical contemporaries, and personal interviews in its quest to paint a picture of who the man was. From his earliest schoolmates to his wife and children to his many girlfriends, all have something to add about the person of Bob Marley and the impact that he had on the world. By the film’s end, the audience has a clear idea of who Marley was, not just as an artist, but as a father, a lover, an activist, and a unifying figure.

                The history of music that gets presented alongside Marley’s is another highlight of the film. Not only do Marley’s songs play over most of the film’s footage, but the film takes care to explore the evolution of his own sound alongside the evolutionary line from traditional music to ska to reggae to pop/rock/r&b. For me, it was really cool to hear about, see, and then actually hear in practice the changes that took place from the late 1950s into the mid-1970s both in Marley’s own sound and in the music industry as a whole.

                Marley paints a complete picture of the musician Bob Marley, encompassing his personal life, musical life, and activist life alongside a fascinating bit of music history, together making the film as great as it is. People unfamiliar with or uninterested in Marley and his work will find this documentary difficult to engage with, but fringe fans and die-hards alike will be well satisfied with the film’s treatment of the legendary star. This film is currently available to stream on Kanopy or via Showtime on Paramount+ and is also available to rent on most other streaming platforms. Check it out if you are interested.