Jamaican culture through Jamaican cinema

Jamaican cinema is young and has produced few films, yet my hypothesis is that it has nonetheless created a tradition. In fact, an analysis of the films made on the island show that, after The Harder They Come, the first Jamaican film made in 1972, all the later films share with it some common themes and technical features, which were modified and extended with the passing of time but remain traceable to a familiar matrix. Moreover, Jamaican cinema allows the spectator to observe the island’s popular culture, since the films are targeted to a non-sophisticated audience and reflect habits and culture. It thus present languages, music, dance, religions, locations, looks and a general sense of masculinity belonging to the “low culture”, leaving aside the “high culture” cultivated by the academy. Jamaican cinema is therefore a valuable tool for observing the evolution of popular culture in the island during the last forty years.