This jaunty crime drama is a time capsule of Jamaican culture in the early 1970s. The infectious music is coupled with beautiful natural light and on-location shooting (no pun intended). Swift editing, swoosh pans, and shifting focus only add to the sense of realism. I knock the film down one star for the occasional tonal inconsistencies and the narrative's general improbability.
Además de ser un testimonio del campo a la ciudad, "Caiga quien caiga" es también un filme épico. A lo "Scarface" (De Palma), esta película apunta a retratar la aspiración por el sueño, no americano, sino el que está a la línea de la fantasía jamaica, sobre cantantes rastas y líderes gangster. En el tránsito seremos testigos de cómo la moralidad se extravía en el camino y se hereda la sobrevivencia y la codicia.
No one will ever mistake this for great cinema or acting but it's such a great slice of life from a specific time and place. Such star vehicles for musicians that are actorly challenged seldomly work but Jimmy Cliff has such a pleasant screen presence (despite the actions of his character!) that the movie goes by in a breeze! 70's guerilla filmmaking at its best.
Touted as the first film by Jamaicans for Jamaicans, "The Harder They Come perfectly reflected the political climate of the times, when similar forms of anti-government movements were sweeping America and the world. Audiences were ready to identify with a film about a hero who would 'rather be a free man in my grave/Than living as a puppet or a slave.' Especially if you could dance to it." - Michael Dare, Criterion.