The Harder They Come15

Directed by Perry Henzell | Jamaica | 1972 | 1h 43m | Starring Jimmy Cliff, Janet Bartley, Carl Bradshaw, Ras Daniel Hartman

Reggae superstar Jimmy Cliff plays a wannabe singer who leaves his village to go to Jamaica’s capital Kingston in pursuit of stardom. Pushed to desperation by shady record producers and corrupt cops, he finally achieves notoriety—as an outlaw. A gritty crime drama with plenty of social commentary and a soundtrack every bit as famous as the film itself (said to have “brought reggae to the world”).

Reviews

‘Fifty years on, this crime drama of a headstrong singer shooting for his chance of success is as raw and energetic as its reggae soundtrack’
★★★★★
Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

‘While it was ultimately the songs—You Can Get It If You Really Want, Many Rivers To Cross, Pressure Drop, and the title track, among other classics—that carried the day, The Harder They Come remains a powerful testament to their meaning.’
★★★★
Scott Tobias, The AV Club

Sorry - you missed it!

We showed The Harder They Come between September 18, 2022 and September 19, 2022.

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What else is on?

Today (Friday 20th March)

17:45

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2h 17m
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20:45

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Tomorrow (Saturday 21st March)

14:00

The Last Supper Cert-TBC
2h | Spanish w/ English subtitles
Set in 1790s Cuba, a devout plantation owner invites 12 enslaved men to Easter dinner to prevent rebellion. Restored in 2020, Tomás Gutiérrez Alea’s bold, sometimes surreal drama examines slavery as an economic system and centres Black resistance.

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16:45

The Secret Agent 15
2h 41m | Portuguese w/ English subtitles
Carnival, communal resistance, political tensions, and a man's missing leg collide in Kleber Mendonça Filho’s slow-burning 1970s political thriller. The Oscar-nominated Wagner Moura stars in this gripping examination of Brazil’s turbulent past.

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20:15

One Battle After Another 15
2h 41m
A paranoid ex-revolutionary and his daughter are forced into confrontation when an old nemesis returns. Leonardo DiCaprio stars in Paul Thomas Anderson’s (There Will Be Blood, The Master) sharp satirical adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s ‘Vineland’.

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Plan your visit

Our beautiful art deco inspired auditorium can be found just off East Oxford's Cowley Road.We are open 7 days a week. We open the cinema and box office 30 minutes before the scheduled start time of each film, and the Box Office then closes 10 minutes after the film starts. We only show a few adverts – less than most cinemas – and we only play a couple of trailers, so please don’t be late as the film itself starts very close to the advertised time!