JAMDOWN, a film by EMMANUEL BONN (MVD DVD)

 |   |  1 min read

JAMDOWN, a film by EMMANUEL BONN (MVD DVD)

This unfocused and largely haphazard film -- part travel footage, part film of reggae artists, some political subtext hinted at -- dates from 1980 when French filmmaker Bonn took a camera to Jamaica and the streets of black Britain.

There is considerable footage where the camera is looking out the window of a vehicle which travels though the Third World streets of somewhere in Jamaica (presumably Kingston) -- but the real jewels here are Toots and the Maytals captured in a recording studio where Toots is incendiary, and later the magnificent Congos singing Row Fisherman Row on a beach accompanied only by an acoustic guitar.

These extended sequences (there is also solo Toots singing deeply soulful blues, interview with Cedric Myton of the Congos and more footage of them singing material from their classic Heart of the Congos album) are the ones to fast-forward to, they are utterly gripping.

The interviews on the streets of black Britain seem designed to confirm that the second generation over from Jamaica were having it tough, which was hardly news even then. Linton Kwesi Johnson, Steel Pulse and others had been saying so.

The film quality isn't the best and filming people with black skin in dark rooms is never the smartest idea, but the soundtrack and the often impenetrable talk of Jah keeps the attention.

So this is uneven and certainly not the lost classic that some may have it. But it does have important period footage of Jamaica -- and those thrilling sequences with Toots and the Congos. For those reasons alone it should be in any serious reggae collection. 

Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   Film at Elsewhere articles index

THE WRECKING CREW, a doco by DENNY TEDESCO

THE WRECKING CREW, a doco by DENNY TEDESCO

While no one would doubt the genius of Brian Wilson, he – like Duke Ellington and classical composers – needed others to realise his music. Initially (and remarkably briefly when... > Read more

QUENTIN TARANTINO: The director defining the landscape

QUENTIN TARANTINO: The director defining the landscape

There was a scene in Michael Palin’s much acclaimed travel-doco Himalaya which, even if you didn't see it, you'll recognise. It was of a towering mountain with clouds scuttling over at about... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

Elsewhere Art . . . Vini Reilly of Durutti Column

Elsewhere Art . . . Vini Reilly of Durutti Column

A few years ago I spent a lot of time listening through to new material and especially reissues by Durutti Column, the UK band lead by singer-guitarist Vini Reilly. I'd heard some of their late... > Read more

Central Coast New South Wales, Australia: Killing care on the road

Central Coast New South Wales, Australia: Killing care on the road

About halfway across, when traffic slows to a fume-filled crawl, I glance sideways to see the city's most famous icon. And it occurs to me this is the first time in three decades I've been... > Read more