Harder Than the Rock
In Mark Warmington’s documentary, the age of reggae music’s popularity in Britain is illustrated by the career of The Cimarons.
Image courtesy of Margot Films/J6 Films.
Reggae music has a central place in Jamaica being rooted in its culture but if one is concerned with its popularity in Britain the focus falls on the 1970s and the early part of the following decade. Mark Warmington's documentary about the U.K.’s first indigenous reggae band, Cimarons (or The Cimarons if you prefer), does indeed concentrate largely on that period albeit that it was slightly earlier in 1967 when the musicians first got together in Harlesden. It's also the case that more recent footage is involved in a special way. The members of the band (one of whom would sadly die in 2021) are seen on camera looking back, but also planning a return. That was mooted in 2020 but was delayed by the arrival of Covid. In the event the film appears to be building up to a special gig, one which eventually took place in 2023 and was their first live show in some thirty years. The enthusiasm they feel for performing clearly remains and does so in a manner that makes one think of the elderly musicians celebrated in Buena Vista Social Club, the popular 1999 film made by Wim Wenders.
Harder Than the Rock proves to be a film which resists meaningful assessment by critics in that the extent to which it appeals depends so much on each viewer’s degree of rapport with Cimarons and their music. But at first that doesn't seem to be matter. Warmington is clearly celebrating a band whose importance he feels to have been underappreciated and he does it most affectionately. The band members themselves are engagingly informal and that adds to the friendly tone of the proceedings. Furthermore, it's interesting in itself to learn of the band’s early days when Harlesden and Paddington featured but so did West Africa where they were the first UK reggae band to tour. They may have worked largely as backing musicians, session players who went unnamed on records, but in the early seventies they found themselves working with the likes of Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff. Also, as they became more established in their own right, they travelled the world and fared well in such places as Japan, France, Spain and Holland. Equally their appearances in Jamaica itself were recognised as being the real thing.
With so much emphasis on their days in the limelight the film is a time capsule and issues of class and racism inevitably play a part. However, this side of their story, which in passing references the Notting Hill riots of 1976 and the Rock Against Racism movement, is hardly detailed except when it comes to deeper comments on the band’s success in Ireland. Here it notes the ability of their music to unify all those who attended their gigs and points to the parallels between Ireland and Jamaica and to the shared stance of those in both countries who felt themselves looked down on. However, when in time the appeal of their music dwindled it seems to have largely been down to two things: their lack of effective management that would ensure plenty of publicity and the fickle way in which taste in pop music changes as the new takes over from the old.
Warmington’s film may often include passages in which songs are intercut with spoken comments but there is no shortage of music here, be it old performance clips or more recent rehearsals or presentations. The material could well be suited to an hour’s programme on television but in presenting his material as a feature film Mark Warmington opts for a length of 100 minutes. I am, of course, speaking personally when I say that, while the music is indeed pleasing enough, the film comes to seem at least twenty minutes too long. This feeling was aggravated by the failure to shape the last section of the film more meaningfully. Just prior to that there has been some extra drive in covering the contribution of incoming lead singer Michael Arkk in place of Winston Reedy but then we sense that the special gig being set up in 2023 will provide a conclusion to the film and are ready for it. The death of drummer Michael Ellis from cancer delays that climax but the tribute to him that precedes the concert footage clearly needs to be included. Nevertheless, by the time that it comes up the film is already feeling overlong.
When the gig incorporates the song ‘Harder than the Rock’ heard for the second time it does appear to clinch the belief that this will conclude the film. But that is not the case. Further illness is covered and an appearance by the band in Spain and this is followed by other comments and by further song extending even into the end credits. If for me this feels like far too much of a good thing, I'm sure that for Cimarons fans there is no such thing and, equally, viewers who themselves are or have been band musicians may relish every single moment. Such people may well delight in everything to be seen here and that is the key reason for saying that how good an experience this film offers depends on the extent to which Cimarons and their music engross you. That aside, it can at least be said with certainty that Mark Warmington's feelings for his subject are always apparent and to that extent he was certainly the right man for the job.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Featuring Locksley Gichie, Franklyn Dunn, Maurice Ellis, Michael Arkk, Winston Reedy, Bobby Davis, Trevor Starr, David Katz, Mykael S. Riley, Diane White, Tony Platt, Clem Bushay, Elvera Butler, Cian Finn, Chilli Dixon, Maverick Sabre, General Levy, Cleveland Dear, Kevin Harris, Christian McCallum.
Dir Mark Warmington, Pro James Baxter, Jeremiah Cullinane and Mark Warmington, Ph Mark Warmington, Ed Mark Lediard.
Margot Films/J6 Films-Margot Films/J6 Films.
100 mins. UK. 2024. UK Rel: 3 October 2024. Cert. 12A.
