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Ghett'a a Life film review

1. Who was your favorite character (s) from the film? Why?

My favorite character from this film is the protagonist, Derrick. He has amazing character development during all of the movie, from being a part of the problem that divided Jamaica between two political sides, to be the bridge to connect both and make the country have a united identity. I like how he is the way of the movie of telling a biggest story, and not to close itself to making something little without a bigger message. His way of thinking is also great for me, how he critiques the way his nation works at the moment, the blindness of his father when he refuses to let him box, and how he chooses to have no side in the struggle.

Other characters I liked were the villians, Sin specially. He is a threatening figure, who will do anything to get what he wants. A pure evil character who gets the job done is always nice to see, even if its cliché.

2. How does the film compare to the other Jamaican films from the 70s? (Besides visual effects, think about the plot and character development).

In my opinion, this is by far the best movie we have watched in class. As I said earlier, the characters here are very good, specially Derrick, who has a great development and interesting interactions with the people he lives with, specially his mother, Dawn.  The dialoges are interesting, and the plot has a strong rythm. When you watch it side by side with The harder they come,  you can see that this one is memorable for his message and not for the way it implements music, or by the involuntary comedy.
The camera work, which was my biggest complaint with both of the other films, is better here when you compare it, so is the composition of the image and the use of colors. However, it still has the problem that in the night scenes, you can barely tell what's happening, as the equipment used isn't made for dark enviroments. 

3. How are woman portrayed in this film? Is it a little or big advancement compared to the films from the 1970's?

There's still a long way to go here. Clearly, there has been an advancement in that regard, however, there's only two mayor women characteres in the movie, Dawn Thompson and Camella, and just the first one is a fully developed character.
You can tell that the importance of Derrick's mother in the film was natural, and not forced so you can say that the movie has a woman character on it. She is an interesting and strong person, with ideas of her own, who is tormented by the memory of her dead son and fears to loose his now only kid. For me, the most important part of her character is seeing how she overcomes that fear, and helps Derrick do what he needs to. It makes you care about her, something you can't tell about any of the other films.

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