The purpose of a documentary is twofold. First, it must excite people who know nothing or very little on the subject. Second, it must give a little extra to people who are already dedicated to the subject. To the fans of Bob Marley, this documentary is likely a beauty. To everyone else, it is nothing more than a below-average biography filled with a lot of reggae music. Marley failed to intrigue the interest of people who do not already love the musician.
The strange thing about Marley, is that I find his life fascinating. For a musician to become to political and die so young is an incredible and tragic story. The problem with Marley is the manner in which the story is told. The movie starts from the very beginning and spends more than half an hour telling the story of a young Robert Marley. It really isn't that interesting of a story. As the movie carries on, they dedicate a good ten minutes to the father of Bob Marley. It is a mystery how they picked which parts of his life to focus on.
The worst part of the story is its telling. The story is told through the people who were close to Bob Marley. That is not the problem. The problem is that the two people who carry you through the story are so eccentric that it's difficult to understand or focus on what is being said. Several times they even interview fellow Rastafarians that simply can't be understood—even with subtitles. Why such scenes were included in the movie is beyond me.
If editing was one of the bigger problems of Marley, then it led to yet another problem. This movie is nearly two-and-a-half hours long. A documentary should never extend beyond two hours. This one certainly had no reason to. The documentation of his musical career goes into such detail that you are already at two hours by the time the movie starts to wrap up. Even then, the move takes another thirty minutes then tries to keep you through the credits. All respect that I had for Marley was lost as the movie carried on and on.
The only people who should see Marley are Bob Marley and Reggae fans. If you are not a fan, the movie will come across as flat and incredibly boring. If you are a fan, you will get a lot of information on your favorite reggae musician. Marley is an unfortunate documentary. For a man who lived such a fascinating life, he deserved a much better telling of his story.
reillyreviews.wordpress.com
The strange thing about Marley, is that I find his life fascinating. For a musician to become to political and die so young is an incredible and tragic story. The problem with Marley is the manner in which the story is told. The movie starts from the very beginning and spends more than half an hour telling the story of a young Robert Marley. It really isn't that interesting of a story. As the movie carries on, they dedicate a good ten minutes to the father of Bob Marley. It is a mystery how they picked which parts of his life to focus on.
The worst part of the story is its telling. The story is told through the people who were close to Bob Marley. That is not the problem. The problem is that the two people who carry you through the story are so eccentric that it's difficult to understand or focus on what is being said. Several times they even interview fellow Rastafarians that simply can't be understood—even with subtitles. Why such scenes were included in the movie is beyond me.
If editing was one of the bigger problems of Marley, then it led to yet another problem. This movie is nearly two-and-a-half hours long. A documentary should never extend beyond two hours. This one certainly had no reason to. The documentation of his musical career goes into such detail that you are already at two hours by the time the movie starts to wrap up. Even then, the move takes another thirty minutes then tries to keep you through the credits. All respect that I had for Marley was lost as the movie carried on and on.
The only people who should see Marley are Bob Marley and Reggae fans. If you are not a fan, the movie will come across as flat and incredibly boring. If you are a fan, you will get a lot of information on your favorite reggae musician. Marley is an unfortunate documentary. For a man who lived such a fascinating life, he deserved a much better telling of his story.
reillyreviews.wordpress.com