Ep. 51 - Interpreting a Legend - Bob Marley: ONE LOVE Director Reinaldo Marcus Green
Kingsley Ben-Adir (Bob Marley) and Lashana Lynch (Rita Marley) in BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE Photo: Paramount
“I learned about Bob. I’m still learning about Bob. But it’s more important that they [the next generation] learn about Bob, and that they share his music and his message with as many people as they can."
Reinaldo Marcus Green, Director BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE
In episode 51, we talk with director Reinaldo Marcus Green about the making of Paramount’s BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE, starring Kingsley Ben-Adir as the Jamaican Reggae icon Bob Marley and Lashana Lynch as his wife, Rita Marley.
BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE premiered February 14 and debuted #1 at the box office. The film celebrates the life and music of Bob Marley who inspired generations through his message of love and unity. The film chronicles the reggae icon’s powerful story of overcoming adversity and the journey behind his revolutionary music.
We also talk with Reinaldo about Bob Marley’s life, legacy, and interpreting the life of a Reggae legend in addition to…
Film making craft and professional growth
How place creates authenticity
Recreating historical drama environments
...and more
Guest: Reinaldo Marcus Green
Reinaldo Marcus Green is a writer, director and producer.
He is best known for directing the critically acclaimed Warner Bros. film KING RICHARD starring Will Smith. KING RICHARD was named one of the Top 10 Films of the Year by both American Film Institute and the National Board of Review The film received six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, and earned Will Smith his first Oscar win for Best Performance by an Actor in a Lead Role. KING RICHARD also received four Golden Globe nominations and four BAFTA nominations.
Reinaldo’s first feature, MONSTERS AND MEN premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and received a Special Jury Prize for Outstanding First Feature. Reinaldo’s other credits include: director and co-executive producer on the Netflix series, TOP BOY, executive produced by Drake and SpringHill Entertainment; Director of (his sophomore) feature film JOE BELL, starring Mark Wahlberg, distributed by Amazon and Roadside Attractions; and Director and co-producer for HBO’s limited series, WE OWN THIS CITY, written by George Pelecanos and David Simon.
BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE
BOB MAREY: ONE LOVE Trailer (Paramount)
BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE celebrates the life and music of Bob Marley who inspired generations through his message of love and unity. The film chronicles the reggae icon’s powerful story of overcoming adversity and the journey behind his revolutionary music.
In the film, Bob Marley has become a political voice in Jamaica. He aims to bring peace between Jamaica’s warring political factions, the Jamaica Labour Party led by Edward Seaga, and the People’s National Party led by Michael Manley at the 1976 Smile Jamaica concert in Kingston. As Bob Marley and the band prepare for the concert, armed assassins break into his compound shooting Bob, his manager Don Taylor (Anthony Welsh) and Rita Marley. Don, Bob and Rita are hospitalized but survive the shooting.
The Marleys realize Jamaica’s political climate is too dangerous for them to stay. Bob Marley, Rita and their family go into exile: Rita and their children join family in Delaware, Bob and the band head to London where they reconnect with producer and Island Records founder Chris Blackwell (James Norton).
Rita Marley rejoins Bob in London. In 1977 Bob Marley and the Wailers record and release the legendary EXODUS album before launching a major European concert tour. The tour is a success, but tensions mount between Bob Marley, his manager, and Rita.
The film also gives a window into Marley’s marriage and early childhood. Bob and Rita have known each other since their early teens and have weathered many storms. In addition to being the mother of their biological children, Rita has also mothered her husband’s children from his extramarital relationships. We see their courtship in a series of flashbacks. We also see Bob’s struggles with the memories of abandonment by his white father.
The ghosts of the past and uncertainty about his future weigh heavy on Bob Marley’s mind. But Bob sets himself on a path to return to Jamaica with his unity message and to share that message and music with the African diaspora.
BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE is produced in partnership with the Marley family, and features a musical soundtrack that includes classic Bob Marley songs. Script writers are Terence Winter, Frank E. Flowers, Zach Baylin, and the film’s director Reinaldo Marcus Green.
The film is available for streaming (rental or sale). To find out where you can see BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE check the movie website.
ROBERT NESTA “BOB” MARLEY (1945 - 1981)
One of the 20th century’s most charismatic and challenging performers, Bob Marley’s renown now transcends the role of reggae luminary: he is regarded as a cultural icon who implored his people to know their history “coming from the root of King David, through the line of Solomon,” as he sang on “Blackman Redemption”; Bob urged his listeners to check out the “Real Situation” and to rebel against the vampiric “Babylon System”. “Bob had a rebel type of approach, but his rebelliousness had a clearly defined purpose to it,” acknowledges Chris Blackwell, the founder of Island Records, who played a pivotal role in the Bob Marley biography by introducing Marley and the Wailers to an international audience. “It wasn’t just mindless rebelliousness, he was rebelling against the circumstances in which he and so many people found themselves.” (Source: bobmarley.com)
Visit the Marley family website to learn more about Bob Marley’s life and legacy. Enjoy his music below courtesy of Spotify.