This weekend the latest “all Jamaican” production was released in theatres. If you’re thinking about seeing the film or interested in my take check out my review here.
However, I’d like to take a moment to rather push you in a brighter direction as it were and ask you, instead of spending your cash on a film at the cinema where the crowd is going to quite rambunctious and difficult to get along with, to stay home and see the amalgam that will give you a far superior version of Chris Browne‘s latest effort.
The story of Ghett’A Life is about a teen in the inner community who wants to become a national class boxer for Jamaica. However, along the way he has the gang violence spurred on by politics as well as a highly segregated community stopping him from fulfilling his dreams. So taking those elements, gang mentality and sporting film I’d like to propose a Martin Scorsese fueled double feature for the weekend:
Raging Bull (1980)
I doubt there’s a man out there willing to say a bad word about this movie. It’s one of those movies that you list when someone decides to enter your conversation and talk ill of Robert De Niro. It is one of the greatest sports films ever made, while being a biopic that I’m not sure how factual it is but seems to be quite psychologically brutal to sit through. There’s the relationship between the brothers, the husband and wife, the man and mistress and even the man and his community (which just happens to be the local mafia). If you’ve made it this far in life and missed out on this movie it’s time for you to see it.
The Departed (2008)
Here’s the remake of the Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs. While some may argue that Scorsese has done better crime films, I tried to find a movie where it evenly shows both sides working towards each other (the cops and the robbers, just like the PNP and JLP in Ghett’A Life just not as well executed). This is hands down one of my favourite Scorsese films and I doubt he’s going to surpass this level of greatness ever again.