Posted on 07/14/2005

 

It's not quite the subculture masterpiece represented by The Warriors or The Last Dragon, but Rockers features charismatic performances, overflows with simmering reggae music, and grooves on an enjoyable if uncomplicated plot. If you want a complex storyline go check out Memento; if you have any taste for reggae music and seeing a cinematic slice of Jamaican culture, Rockers comes proper. Your first impulse might be to turn off the subtitles; the second will be to turn them back on. Listen to all the Sean Paul records you like, it won't prepare you for the thick baritone riddims of the patois kicked in this film. Besides the amusing audio glossary contained on a bonus feature, the subtitles do a good job of "translating" without losing the essence of the lyrical and pointed dialect (though their too literal writing of "bum cloth" for "bumbaclot!" threw me a bit). Picture quality on the DVD is decent for a film from 1979, and for those of you rockin' the surround sound set-up you get Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 soundtracks.

Plotwise, you'll follow Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace, who lays down the most wickedest drumbeats in Jamaica, as he tries to hustle his way into a decent living, buying a motorcycle to start peddling 45s around the city. All is well and good, the man sits in on live sessions and spreads the musical word, until the local criminal element (wicked men of Babylon who run the music industry) steal his bike and his records. Horsemouth marshalls his forces around the town and what follows is something like Blaxploitation meets Robin Hood.

Horsemouth turns in a great performance, energetic and twisting through emotions of musical exhilaration and bitter resignation, if never defeat.



he movie has a nice moment somewhere in the middle where he faces the camera and delivers a short soliloquy about I and I, and the evils of Babylon and the struggle that he faces to just spread the word and the music. The Rastafari culture permeates the movie, as you might expect, but does so organically. Though the movie was scripted, the dialogue floats along in a rhythmic improvisational style, something like how Wu-Tang's cast-off bits of gab compel even when it's about something as simple as the weather. Other bits of the culture are more pointed, as Horsemouth visits his Christian grandmother who worries for his soul, a sentiment he laughs off, and the poor but earnest crew of artists who struggle against the criminal element controlling music distribution.

The music bubbles throughout the movie, upbeat at turns and sinister during the darker scenes; one of the most compelling bits actually comes without production accompaniment at all, as Burning Spear sings a cappella in a contemplative sit-down with Horsemouth. Peter Tosh's "Stepping Razor" sets a nice lurking tone for the final heist scenes, showing a montage of Horsemouth's assembled crew walking through city streets. A scene featuring Horsemouth's number one Dirty Harry bum-rushing a disco will make anyone smile who thinks fondly of BDP bouncing PM Dawn off the stage. There are too many great live performances to catalogue, but Gregory Isaacs performing in a blue tux a la Daddy Fat Sacks pretty much clinched it for me.

The writer and director Theodore Bafaloukos stammers through an interview and offers a few insights into the process. Other extras include a nice biography of all the performers, the vernacular glossary, the original trailer, and a nice 16 page booklet. If you've worn out your copy of Breakin 2: Electric Boogaloo or have a foul taste in your mouth 'cause you just heard Snow on the radio, definitely check for Rockers.