Marley and Me

MARLEY (B+)*

Kevin Macdonald does a masterful job of putting forth the definitive biography of reggae star and music legend Bob Marley. The project holds up surprisingly well under the weight of nearly two-and-a-half hours.

The documentary captures not just the history but also the spirituality that emanated from Marley and the 1970s reggae/rastafarian movement. Our main guide is original band member Bunny Wailer, giving off a regal show-biz glow as sort of the Flavor Flav of the Wailers. Relatives, band members, wife Rita, lovers, baby mamas -- even an early studio hand identified as a "singer and janitor" -- all weigh in.

We're treated to the roots of the movement, the Jamaican ska scene of the 1950s and '60s. We get a healthy dose of the Wailers' ska phase. And then a wonderful moment comes around the 40-minute mark, when Bunny Wailer and session drummer Carlton "Santa" Davis explain the subtle technical shift from ska to raggae. (It's reminiscent of DJ Bonebrake's breakdown of his unique syncopated drumbeat in "X: The Unheard Music.") Macdonald immediately cuts to a familiar guitar lick, and the movie instantly clicks. It's as if it goes from black-and-white to color, like in "The Wizard of Oz." Technician Bob Andy also explains that the signature "chicka" guitar sound that happened almost by accident, "an illusion," created by instant feedback from the recording machines at the time. Wailer imbues it all with biblical significance.

Historical touchstones stitch this all together through remembrances and archival footage: the  1966 visit to Jamaica by Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie, a deity among the rastafarians; a description of the massive marijuana plants Marley planted in his mother's back yard during a brief stay in Delaware; the arrival of influential producer Lee Scratch Perry; videotape of the 1976 Miss World crowning of girlfriend Cindy Breakspeare; the political street violence in Jamaica in the mid to late '70s; the brief post-shooting exile in London during the height of punk. Macdonald explores the confounding phenomenon of Marley's lack of appeal to black audiences in the United States. The breakthrough tour opening for the Commodores and the euphoric concert at Madison Square Garden quickly turn bittersweet with the discovery of terminal cancer that made this the last tour.

The final days are painful. Marley ignored Breakspeare's advice to go give up on the cancer treatments and instead go back to Jamaica to "smoke a big-ass spliff" and enjoy fish tea; instead, his final months were spent in snowy, freezing Germany, undergoing experimental treatment. The reminiscences of an older German nurse are particularly poignant. For the first time, still photographs capture fear in Marley's eyes.

But it's the joy of the infectious music that wins out in the end; the iconic songs resonate. Especially powerful is an early demo of "No Woman No Cry" done in gospel style, with Peter Tosh on piano. The breakthrough "Stir It Up," seen in studio footage, earns renewed respect. Diehards will wallow in the hits; neophytes will be persuaded by the argument that Marley's music is much more than a best-of album played to death in college dorm rooms.

Reggae is perhaps my least favorite form of music. But you need not be a fan of Marley and his music to appreciate his story. His late-career embrace of Africa (including a somewhat naive gig in the dictatorship of Gabon) brings Marley's one-love/one-world philosophy full circle.

This is a loving film, produced with the cooperation of the Marley family. And it comes with a moral: don't ignore melanoma. Marley died at age 36 in 1981.

(* - Screened, coincidentally on 4/20)

Bonus Track
The early hit: "Simmer Down"