One Love

A quirky love story with an exotic Jamaican setting.

Serena (Cherine Anderson) is the gospel-singing daughter of a devout Penticostal preacher (Winston Stona). It's a loving but repressive community, and she's being pushed into marrying a worthy member of the church.

Then she meets laid-back rasta Reggae musician Kassa (Ky-Mani Marley, son of Bob Marley) at a music contest. Initially drawn together by their mutual love of music, their forbidden relationship begins to blossom as they battle with a corrupt record-producer for a fair recording contract.

It's a good old-fashioned morality tale of love overcoming cultural and religious differences, with unobtrusive direction and strong performances from all concerned. As you might expect, there's a stonking Reggae sound-track featuring Bob Marley, Shaggy & Junior Kelly. Both the principals have strong voices and do their own singing.

The plot has similarities with Jamaican cult classic "The Harder They Come" (Trevor Rhone has writing credits for both films). But the treatment here is very different: where "Harder" was dark and edgy, this is warm-hearted and unashamedly sentimental, with an undercurrent of broad comedy. It's straightforward story-telling aimed at a mainstream family audience.

Caught the UK Premiere at the Birmingham Screen Festival and had a chat with one of the producers. The project was driven by her passionate belief that there is a need for more positive portrayals of the Afro-Caribbean community on film. So while we see a fair bit of Jamaican corruption, we also see charming if somewhat idealised views of life in a mountain village and an idyllic Rastafarian community.

It's an impressive achievement for a first-time production team. They pulled in a powerful Executive Producer, raised USD 2 million, and assembled a strong team around the project. They have secured a general theatre release in the UK, Germany and other European markets, with good prospects of a US release as well. So expect it soon in a cinema near you.

geoff -at- advantae -dot- com

a rare thing these days, a film that of innocence, good music and warm story. kymani is superb as the rastaman singer, you can tell he is a chip of the old man's block, great voice and presence cherine is a true discovery a young lady with a beautiful voice and tremendous acting chops, and also beautiful. i saw at a preview some time ago and the audience were whooping and clapping with full interaction. it was like being at Saturday morning pictures again. the film avoids the mtv style of frenetic pace and frantic editing. it takes its time to tell its simple yet effective story of two culture first clashing then meeting, rasta meets Christian, music competition you know what is going to happen but it happens so well. a film you come out humming the brilliant music and with a skip and a hop in you step

This predictable tale of love overcoming prejudice and good overcoming evil was disappointing. The acting was weak at best and, in some cases, downright bad. Kymani Marley appeared as one of the better actors, seeming less stilted, more comfortable in his role and in front of the camera. Cherine, as Serena, despite her unbelievably beautiful voice, was surprisingly disappointing, as one would expect some improvement since her earlier exposure as a teenager in Dance Hall Queen. Seasoned actors Idris Elba and Vas Blackwood appeared more natural than the rest of the cast as did Christopher Daley, albeit in a dud role.

Overall, the language in the film came across as stilted. It seems that in an effort to 'water down' the Jamaican dialect, people ended up sounding unnatural. Yet this has been done successfully in other films. Better direction might have led to people seeming and sounding more real, but in several instances, the language did not come across as what a Jamaican would typically say in the situation.

Some scenes could easily have been deleted without any loss to the overall story and their inclusion begs the question. Others scenes that were important to the storyline were just unconvincing in their execution.

What a pleasant change to see Jamaica as it really is on film. Thee have been too many movies and documentaries that show the seedier side of the Island, which is a small part of what this beautiful Island is really about. One love does show the corruption of the record industry there and also highlights the religious prejudice that exists (but that is not unique to Jamaica). It was lovely to see some of the beauty of Jamaica shown and not just the usual beach scenes.

Overall as others have said this is a feel good movie. The ending is a bit over soppy and unrealistic but apart from that it is well worth a watch.

I think this is an excellent film. It shows Jamaica in a different light...The cinematography is amazing and the cast compliment each other well. I was very impressed with the music in the film. I find it both impressive and unusual that the lead actors could actually "really" sing.I didn't believe that Anderson was really singing until I witnessed her first hand in Toronto at a party for the Film Festival. SHe definitely has presence and is singer, no doubt. Marley definitely has screen presence and looks good on camera. I liked him in this role. However, at times the pace of the film was a little slow...but it's definitely a feel good movie. Definitely a must see. Looking at the credits i wonder "what was life like on set?"..the team was part Jamaican, part British, and part Norwegian... When will this film come to theaters in the US...I hope soon I really enjoyed it.