Few musicians have been as dedicated to peace and reconciliation as the legendary reggae performer Bob Marley. And few documentaries have covered his life story quite so comprehensively as Kevin MacDonald's 2010 biographical movie, Marley. With access to Marley's friends, family and former associates, MacDonald delivers the most thorough and revealing portrait of Bob Marley yet committed to film. Charting his life story, from his youthful efforts to forge a solo career to his association with the Wailers and producer Lee 'Scratch' Perry, through to his outstanding global fame and sudden, tragic battle with cancer, Marley leaves virtually no stone unturned in its effort to illuminate as much about the man as is possible. MacDonald had already proven himself to be a documentary maker of considerable talent with Touching the Void, and here he further consolidates his reputation. Beyond the life of Marley himself, the film weaves in all-important political and social context, not least the fractured, violent political turmoil in Jamaica in the 1970s, which at one point Bob Marley was inadvertently caught up in resulting in him being shot. This only seemed to encourage his message of peace and harmony, ethics which came out of his Rastafarian beliefs. As his music implied and as his words spoken in the closing moments of the documentary clarify, Marley transcended his fame in favour of a more lasting message to the world: "I don't really have any ambition, you know? I only have one thing I'd really like to see happen. I'd like to see mankind living together. Black, White, Chinese , everyone. That's all."
