DVD Maniacs has posted a nice review and overview of the new DVD release of my cousin Alan's fantastic film, Land of Look Behind. Here's reviewer Ian Miller's discussion of the film:
Alan Greenberg is an interesting character. It would seem that his life is made up of random encounters and friendships with some serious heavy hitters (Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Mick Jagger), but he has also worked behind the scenes on such divergent productions like MANDINGO and Bertolucci's 1900, and most importantly has had a thirty-two year creative partnership with German auteur/madman Werner Herzog (GRIZZLY MAN, EVEN DWARVES STARTED SMALL). While the exact nature of what it exactly is that he does in that partnership is hazy at best (Greenberg jokingly refers to himself as Herzog's "typist", referring to the fact that he banged Werner's story notes for FITZCARRALDO and COBRA VERDE into workable scripts), Werner's fearlessness in the face of nature and highly dangerous individuals obviously rubbed off on Alan enough for him to take on the formidable task of making LAND OF LOOK BEHIND, a film ostensibly documenting the funeral of reggae superstar/shaman Bob Marley that turns out to be much more.
After showing a map of the island of Jamaica (focusing on the area called "land of look behind"), we see a man with a machete and giant spleef chopping down fruit stalks to gather miniscule toads that live inside them for the length of their lives. He then goes on to explain (in a very musical patois) that we are in the shanty town of Quickstep, at the edge of the nasty Land Of Look Behind badlands/forest, ominously named by the locals as "Me-no-send-you-no-come". He then proclaims to the wilderness his desire for some industry to come and build factories so he and his townspeople could have some work, instead of collecting toads for some biologist. Soon we are in the presence of Jammy Galloway, a rasta who explains his devotion to Jah and his purpose for "eating" herb before leading a group of devotees through some chanting and drumming, then we're off to the procession of the recently deceased Bob Marley's casket through Kingston, where seemingly all day-to-day business has stopped in order for all and sundry to pay respects (the shot of families sitting atop a parked Esso fuel truck is an arresting one). We see the funeral itself, with what had to be the largest open gathering of Rastafarians in the history of the outlaw religion (all inside are covering their dreads, but not so much outside, where one serious young man declares that "When a prophet dies, twenty thousand lions are born", while a non-dread exclaims that "Bob Marley smoked one hundred spleefs a day! One hundred spleefs a day!!"). Other scenes include performance clips from Lui Lepki and Gregory Isaacs (who is also interviewed), a visit with poet Mutabaruka, and a riveting sequence where a young man named Hansel drags on a spleef until it's gone and sings along to Bob and The Wailers' "Crazy Bald Head" in total reverie, and the viewer sees exactly what director Greenberg intends: a sense of dignity and devotion to self and the serving a higher purpose that tears away at the squalor and oppression of one's daily life.
For a film that had no actual distributor, LAND OF LOOK BEHIND has gone on to be considered one of the greatest documentaries of it's decade, if not ever, and it's easy to see why: there is no pompous narration, no cloying sense of sympathy for the subjects, nor is it outwardly trying to manipulate the viewer's emotions. Plain and simple, it just drops you into an area and lets the pictures and people tell the story. Taking Herzog cinematographer Jorg Schmidt-Reitwein along because of his intrepid nature as well as his masterful eye, Greenberg does a fine job of catching some really memorable images and scenes (the Rasta jail, audience members dancing in total ecstasy), and manages to edit all of it into a cohesive whole that never drags. While those coming in looking for an out-and-out tribute to Marley the artist will be disappointed, they will be rewarded by a touching overview of what he represented to the people of his homeland, a much more fitting homage indeed.
Read the rest to learn about some of the special features of the DVD package.
Read my tribute to Alan and view some clips.
BLOG POSTS
COMMENTS
PODCASTS
