Marley

Magnolia Pictures

Dir. By Kevin McDonald

In the decades since Bob Marley’s death in 1981, he’s become such an icon that it’s easy to lose sight of the man behind the legend. Marley remedies that, focusing on his biography in exhaustive detail—from his childhood as the mixed-race son of a Jamaican woman and English soldier to the early musical struggles of the Wailers to his eventual stardom and too-sudden death. Marley is heard from in archival interviews but his story is mostly told by those who knew him—family members, bandmates, girlfriends, even a nurse who treated him at a German hospital in his final days battling cancer. The most powerful moments are when we see him perform in concert footage at various pivotal points in his career. A nice coda is also provided with an end-credit sequence showing fans today from one country after another singing and dancing to his songs of freedom.