Last evening, a bunch of us volunteers, and a few thousand other people, ventured down to Emancipation Park to watch the world premiere of the newest documentary on Bob Marley’s life called Marley. We arrived around seven, while guests were still arriving on the red carpet (actually, I think it was a red, green and gold carpet.) But before we entered the park, we pushed our way through throngs of vendors selling everything from unofficial Marley gear to peanuts to popcorn to Red Stripe. The park was quite packed with more Rastas than I’ve ever seen in one place. The red carpet arrivals were mostly unknown to me, except for members of the Marley family, most notably Mrs. Rita Marley. She arrived in an ornate outfit and huge black sunglasses accompanied by Rastafari soldiers. We saw Ziggy Marley and several of the other children.

The mood in the park was calm but celebratory – almost rapturous, especially every time someone mentioned the Marley name, JAH or Rastafari. After whjat seemed like close to 100 speeches (by politicians, musicians, DJs, Marley family members), the film started, met by cheers. These cheers, as well as editorial comments, waving of various objects, boos and some extensive commentaries, continued throughout the film. The audience dispersed a little halfway through when it started to drizzle a little bit (some people fled as though a blizzard had descended). Perhaps the loudest cheer erupted when Bob Marley talked about not wanting a life lived solely for his own gain, rather, he wanted to live for the people.

Going by the documentary, which was excellent, even at over 2.5 hours, Marley was a highly driven, talented man who was compelled to create music. Like all of us, however, he was flawed. Apparently, this documentary was met with some criticism from some camps, claiming that it included some tarnishing details. That it did, mostly surrounding his infidelity and selfishness (he had 11 children with 7 different mothers). But even this subject was handled with fairness and objectivity. The filmmaker clearly loved his subject and has created a well-rounded movie that addressed all aspects of this artist’s life, like his heritage, family life, how he created music, his love of Jamaica, his Rastafari religion and his humanness.

The most poignant moment came when one of his daughters, Cedella, discussed seeing her father on his deathbed as he fought cancer. I paraphrase, but she said something like: “You know when you just want them all to yourself?” The park, filled with thousands of people, was almost silent. Marley died of cancer in 1981. He likely could have lived longer had he visited doctors more regularly. The last pictures of him show an extremely thin man shorn of his beloved dread locks, unable to sing, perform or play his beloved football. It was a long move, a late night, but well worth it.