Whether you’re a fan of reggae music or not, a new biopic about Bob Marley’s legacy will leave you singing his beloved tunes all day long.
Bob Marley: One Love, directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, celebrates the life of the iconic Jamaican reggae singer, and marks the first time his story is being told on the big screen.
@nowtoronto The new #BobMarley biopic comes out tomorrow and his son #ZiggyMarley and director Reinaldo Marcus Green sat down with us to discuss the film and what they love about #Toronto. ♬ original sound – Now Toronto
“Bob gave us this gift of his music and the movie is sort of trying to unwrap that gift a little bit. Try to understand the lyrics, what he was singing for, where he was singing from,” Green told Now Toronto, in an interview ahead of the film’s opening last week in Toronto.
Produced in partnership with the Marley family, the film focuses between 1976-1978, as that time period was of “most rich musical creation, it was an outpouring of music at that time,” Green added.
Eight-time Grammy Award winner Ziggy Marley, who is the eldest son of Bob and his wife Rita, is a producer on the film and was on set for every day of the production to ensure the most honest portrayal of his father. Bob’s daughter Cedella is also among the producers, along with executive producer Brad Pitt.
BECOMING BOB MARLEY
British actor Kingsley Ben-Adir (Barbie) stars as the legendary musician and fellow Brit Lashana Lynch (The Woman King) plays his strong and supportive wife Rita.
Ziggy says it was not an easy task to capture the essence of Bob but when he met Ben-Adir he knew that he was the best person for the job.
“He was the only one that really had that thing about him and then, you know, we talk and the seriousness that he took the role with. We’re not trying to be gimmicky, this is not a gimmicky Bob Marley character…this is an artist expressing Bob Marley in his own artistic way because nobody can be Bob Marley, ever,” Ziggy told Now Toronto.
In over a year of preparation, Ben-Adir vigorously studied the icon to transform into him.
“I mean, obviously he had to undergo a physical transformation, choreography, learning to play guitar, learning to speak Patois. So, just an enormous amount of work. I don’t think the guy slept for, you know, a better half of a year. So, it was a relentless work ethic to transform, kudos to him. What a brilliant job he did,” Green said.
As for Bob’s unique way of speaking Patois, Jamaica’s native language, Ziggy said he and Jamaicans who saw the film when it premiered on the island were happy with Ben-Adir’s performance.
“Kingsley did a good job because it was difficult. It’s one of the most difficult roles because of the dialect. It’s not like Americans where somebody can easily imitate American style,” he said.
Ziggy added that the movie is a real representation of Jamaica and of Bob and his musical creativity. The movie also shows an emotional side of Bob that has never been revealed before, which Ziggy admitted made him feel sad when reflecting on the hardships his father endured.
“…To understand that he went through that and came to a realization and a sense of purpose that all of this turmoil that he went through never stop him, never deter him from finally fulfilling his own destiny of being of service to people,” Ziggy said.
ABOUT BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE
The film depicts the height of Marley’s career and starts with the harrowing attempted assassination against him in 1976, amid a time of heightened political violence in the country.
However, this danger and turmoil provided an undeniable catapult for Bob’s musical creativity.
“And that’s really the album, Exodus is the album that put them on the map. I mean, in a big way, not just a Jamaican star, but a global star. And so that just felt like the concentration needed to go there,” Green said, when speaking about why the film focused on that time period.
Green added that his favourite song from the album is “Jamming,” saying, “it’s hard not to be in a good mood with ‘Jamming.’”
Throughout the film, beautiful scenery of the island and its people are captured with the help of a crew of over 250 Jamaicans and a cast loaded with established and upcoming Jamaican artists.
Green says he and cinematographer Robert Elswit spent hours scouting locations and finding the right areas at the right time of day to shoot each scene.
“A lot of Saturdays and Sundays to find what you see in the film, but it was worth every minute being there with the people of Jamaica was incredible. They helped us build this film and it was special,” he said.
Ziggy added that creating the film in Jamaica also made lasting opportunities for locals.
“We didn’t just go there and leave, we left things there, we left development for schools, you know we left a community more prosperous, we left individuals with dreams that, ‘Wow, a movie come shooting right down in the ghetto.’ I mean it was such an uplifting experience for the community and for the people who were a part of it… it really served my father’s purpose really well on plenty different levels.”
In the film, after self-exiling to London following the attempted assassination, Bob is seen creating and recording hits for Exodus along with his bandmates, the Wailers.
One of the scenes shows the band discussing the album cover, and Ziggy described this moment as one of the funniest scenes to him because of its realness.
“One of my favorite scenes is when Bob and them are in the office and the guy, I guess he’s a publicist, right, and he’s trying to explain to Bob that your picture is not on it. And Bob was trying to say, ‘no man, this is a cause of a cause,’ and the guy was like ‘what?’ He can’t understand Bob, which is, you know, very typical and true and plenty people can’t understand how Bob think so. That was so funny to me because it’s real and Bob have a sense of humour there,” Ziggy said.
ONE LOVE FOR TORONTO
Both Ziggy and Green were in Toronto last week premiering the film, but it’s not their first visit to the Six.
“It’s got a great art culture, great museums, great food, I just love being here. And TIFF of course! Green said in excitement, referring to what he loves to check out in the city.
Meanwhile, Ziggy unapologetically said with a laugh, “Me don’t like doing nothing, me don’t like too much tings here.”
However, he did share that he feels at home whenever he visits.
“Me like the Canada vibes still, me tell yuh the truth, yeah. Because I’m living in America now, you know. So, it’s’ a different vibe than the American vibe, me like the Toronto vibes, you know the Canadian vibes. Feel at home, you know?”
Bob Marley: One Love premieres on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14.
