The Harder They Fall: The most talked about Black Western movie.

“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything” (George Bernard Shaw) This quote summarize the change and progress in western films over the years. There was a one sided trend of storytelling within the western films over the years. The harder they fall is a new era of Black Western film directed by Jeymes Samuel, who co-wrote the screenplay with Boaz Yakin. The film stars  Jonathan Majors, Idris Elba, Zazie Beetz, Regina King, Delroy Lindo, Lakeith Stanfield, RJ Cyler, Danielle Deadwyler, Edi Gathegi, and Deon Cole. It is a western movie whose leading cast members are all black. This is very seldom in western films. The film is also a black history lesson because of the realistic characters presented in the film. These characters were hardly ever mentioned in history books. The characters Stagecoach Mary (Zazie Beetz)and Nat Love (Jonathan Majors),  presented in the film intrigued interest of who they were in history.

The Harder They Fall movie plot is a revengeful one. When outlaw Nat Love discovers that his enemy Rufus Buck (Idris Elba) who had killed his parents was planning his escape from prison. Nat Love rounds up his gang to track Rufus down to seek revenge. Those riding with him in his revenge quest his former lover Stagecoach Mary, his right and left hand men hot tempered Bill Pickett (Edi Gathegi) and fast drawing Jim Beckwourth (R.J. Cyler).

The Soundtrack

The soundtrack is worth  mentioning, it helps to bring the motion pictures alive. Jay-Z served as a producer in The Harder They Fall Soundtrack. In the end of the film, he’s credited by his real name, Shawn Carter, instead of Jay-Z or Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter. The soundtrack was also graced by producing from James Lassiter, Lawrence Bender and Jeymes Samuels.

The harder they fall soundtrack was also noticeable feature of the movie. It was integrated in moments in the film to ignite scenes and set moods. The scene where Rufus Buck escapes out of prison and up on approaching his home town Redwood with all his gang members riding with him the musical track Dennis Brown “promise land” played. This was a common theme of the movie, playing intriguing and powerful Reggae music in fitting scenes to depict different moods during  the movie. The likes of Koffee with the movie title track “The Harder They Fall” released a music video with storytelling from the movie, costume, choreography, cinematography.

The music video from the soundtrack of The Harder They Fall: “Koffee – The Harder They Fall”

A part from the soundtrack and background music played in the movie. I admire the scene when Nat Love return to his one time lover (Mary) establishment to watch her opening act of her singing. Nat love memorizing reaction to her singing you could tell he was still in love with her. This scene showed Nat love admiration of Mary. The close up of the camera on his face and look in his eyes that he missed her very much, a look of a man that was in love so much that he is ready to be married.

One of the purposes of this film I believe is to portray how rich musical influence on a motion picture can be. The importance of sharing that there were black cowboys in our history. Everyone should watch the movie The Harder They Fall. This dips into a few characters from black history. The film is one of the most remarkable phenomenon in cinema in the last few years of black western, a victor of the new era of western films. This is a story of a history lesson on awareness – it teaches us to appreciate history and music.