Ziggy Marley talks about that ‘slap’ in Bob Marley: One Love

As the February 14 opening of the Bob Marley: One Love movie nears, and the number of premieres increase – the third one was held in Los Angeles on Tuesday, following those in Jamaica on January 23 and London on January 30 – the producers are revealing some highly entertaining aspects of the biopic.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Bob Marley’s son and one of the producers, Ziggy Marley, spoke about “the slap”, or in Jamaican patois “di bax whe Rita gi’ Bob”. Ever since the Jamaican premiere, that slap has been quite topical, with persons enquiring with disbelief of those who have seen it. The conversations go something like this:

“A true seh Rita bax Bob inna di movie?”

“Hmm hm.”

“A lie!”

Rolling Stone writer, David Browne, labels it “one of the movie’s most dramatic and pivotal scenes: an argument between Marley and Rita in which the latter expresses her frustration over her husband’s fame going to his dreadlocked head”.

Kingsley Ben-Adir, who plays Bob Marley, told Rolling Stone of that scene:“It was months and months and months in the making. That scene got redrafted and redrafted. That was a deep discussion between Lashana [Lynch who plays Rita] and me and Ziggy and the family. There are lines in that scene that are so deeply personal to the family. It was a decision for them to make, how much they wanted to share.”

Director Reinaldo Marcus Green is quoted as saying, “I would be very protective if I was making a movie about my father too. But Ziggy’s protection was to tell the truth. Rita would get angry and she would slap Bob. For us to see that is great. Ziggy wasn’t saying, ‘Let’s pretend that didn’t happen.’”

In a red carpet interview in Jamaica, Ziggy Marley said he was happy with the biopic.

“It represent right. The message inna it strong. And for Bob ... for my father ... the important thing inna it was the message. It made me think about what him go through, what him never show anybody because of the circumstances. Getting shot ... running away ... getting cancer. Is a whole heap of things that pon a man ... so is like it mek mi think bout what him go through emotionally. And him did way young ... young, young, young. So we kinda try explore that yuh know ... the emotional side of Bob,” Ziggy told The Gleaner.

Rolling Stone noted that Ziggy “says he is ultimately at peace”.

“You have to tell the truth in this truncated time period. It’s the life truth, and we’re telling it,” Ziggy told the magazine and shared that he was pleased with how Ben-Adir portrayed his father.

“He captured a deepness that is really human and is really touching. He touches on funny things, too. He did that very well. Not in a mimicking way, not in a cheesy way. There are some scenes that might be closer than others, but overall, he did it artfully. He’s interpreting Bob, not being Bob. Nobody can ever be Bob. This is an artist representing this painting,” Ziggy told the writer.

At Los Angeles premiere on Marley’s birthday, A-listers Stevie Wonder, Brad Pitt, Kelly Rowland, Kylie Minogue, Mya and Montana Tucker were among the big names who were present. Ben-Adir was there as well, and so too were Ziggy Marley and his wife Orley, but this time they were accompanied by their children.

Bob Marley: One Love, opens on Valentine’s Day, February 14 and in Jamaica, the anticipation is high. At the Bob Marley birthday concert held at Emancipation Park on Tuesday, clips from the movie were shown and it looked as if every hand went up when the emcee asked the full house for a show of hands from those who were planning to watch it when it opens. Backstage, it was a similar sentiment.

Munga Honourable told The Gleaner that he was definitely going to watch it; Warrior King and his wife Leslie are planning to make it a date; and for Jahmiel it’s “a mus”.

Grammy Award-winning artiste, Kabaka Pyramid, however, has seen it already and he shared his views.

“I had the privilege of seeing it at a private screening in Florida ... and mi nah tell nuh lie ... I am very impressed. I look on it as a level-up for the Jamaican film industry, highlighting obviously the legend Bob Marley and Rastafari. I feel that there were some elements probably missed out from the story. Some things were a little disappointing, but the acting , the production ... everything about the movie was done on a high level. And I am watching US television and I am seeing the ads and I am seeing it being promoted just like any other major film. So, it’s good to see our culture being represented at that level. It’s a joy for me,” Kabaka Pyramid shared.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com