You say you want a revolution? Well, there are two ways to go about it, with the flowers or the guns, and this week cinema offers us a case study in extremes. On the one hand is "Marley," a well-researched documentary exploring the life of Jamaican musician-cum-activist Bob Marley who — like John Lennon before him — has been practically sainted since his early death. On the other is "Carlos," a gripping biopic of international terrorist Ilich Ramirez Sanchez and the spectacular hostage-taking operations and bombings he pulled off in the 1970s at the behest of several state sponsors.
Marley, with his deeply held Rastafarian beliefs, often came off as much a prophet as a musician. Having grown up as a bullied mixed-race child, he certainly matured into a strong voice for justice and tolerance. A defining moment in his career — covered in detail in the doc — came when he agreed to play a free concert in Kingston, in an attempt to heal the political violence that was ripping his country apart. Marley was shot and nearly killed before the concert, but went on to play it anyway, famously bringing his country's rival political leaders on stage to shake hands.
Yet outside Jamaica, Marley's beliefs have often been watered down into a feel-good ganja-haze vibe of "One love" and "Don't worry about a thing, 'cause every little thing gonna be alright." As the film points out, though, Marley remained a rude boy from Trenchtown who was perfectly capable of taking a tour manager who had ripped off his band and dangling him out a hotel room window until he paid up.