Marley

Kevin Macdonald’s documentary about the man who brought reggae music to the world and died at the legend-making age of 36 is a detailed, indeed for non-devotees probably too detailed, account of Marley’s extraordinary journey from Robert Marley, a starry-eyed teenage covering American hits like “A Teenager in Love” to Bob Marley, Rastafarian, icon and father of eleven children from seven different women.

Macdonald has assembled an impressive amount of archival material in this family-approved documentary as he moves chronologically through Marley’s personal and musical story. His approach is far from critical and fans will probably already be familiar with most of the material but it is both rewarding and often amusing to hear many of the people who knew Marley in one way or another recall him. We do get a few extracts from interviews with the man himself, subtitled, as is the case with some of the other interviewees, to help decipher his thick patois.  If you don’t know much more about Marley than his chart hits, this comprehensive account will be informative, if somewhat overlong, viewing.

DVD Extras: Interview with the director.

Available from: Village Roadshow

 

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