APA-Banjul (The Gambia) The much anticipated biopic on late reggae singer Bob Marley went on the big screen in London on Wednesday evening and as Olufemi Peters Jnr, a Gambian fan of the musician writes, it did not disappoint.

The man roundly dubbed the undisputed king of reggae died at the age of 36 in 1981 but his contributions to popular culture worldwide have maintained their potency and continue to inspire and guide to this day.

I saw the biopic dedicated to unraveling his life last night and I’ll start by laying into the conspicaries about the movie which by all indication does justice to who Bob really was, a natural product of his time. Peter Tosh and Cindy Breakspeare were said to not be in the movie. They are.

Cindy, Bob’s lover, a former Miss World who mothered son Damien Marley made two cameo non-speaking appearances in the movie despite controversies about their relationship simmering a few days before the film was premiered.

Even though the movie was set from 1976 to 78, being pivotal junctures of Bob’s life, it has a flashback to the Clement ‘Coxsone Dodd’ days and Tosh appears in the studio session as they make Simmer Down.

As for the movie, I would give it a strong 9 out of 10. The acting was sublime, the patois almost Jamaican and, as someone who read lots of books on Marley, it was just refreshing to see scenes I’ve read about come to life in the big screen.

My favourite was when he landed in Jamaica from London and headed straight to Trench Town. That showed how much that part of West Kingston meant to him.

However, a part happened I never read anywhere is the gunman who came and begged for forgiveness for the act.

I read that they were caught by men from Trench Town, Marley was called over to participate in shooting them but he declined and walked away.

The men were executed.

I guess that would have been too gory for viewers.

What was interesting was Rita Marley, the singer’s official wife in the movie complained about Bob’s infidelity but it wasn’t made obvious in the movie at all. Him and Cindy weren’t even alone together.

Rita even slapped him and nothing happened to her! We all know what happened in that hotel room when Rita complained that Marley was giving Julian’s mom too much money.

Let’s leave it at that.

The peace concert calling of Edward Seaga and Michael Manley on stage was replaced with the original footage which someone lile me didn’t mind.

The popping of his toe in 1977 by a French journalist is highlighted in the film. The fact that it caused his demise four years later made for uncomfortable viewing.

What was also highlighted was the pummelling of Don Taylor but the singer’s memorable trip to Gabon wasn’t in the movie at all.

In actuality, that happened in Gabon but the movie portrayed that he took too much money from a promoter in London and skimmed off it.

The shooting in Marley’s home in Hope Road looked too real and it made me shudder.

Over all, it left me in a rollercoaster – elated, pensive, empty sometimes and even down right sad.

I left the movie theater like I just left the wake keeping of a loved one.

It gave me the same unhappy feeling I get whenever I go to the Bob Marley Masoleum in Nine Mile.

Still,I will certainly watch it again.

opj/APA