Film: Visual and musical rhythms playing in time

Dancehall Queen Don Letts / Rick Elgood (15)

This is a Jamaican rags-to-riches story in the mould of The Harder They Come. It's very rough around the edges, and the fuzzy images suggest that it has been blown up from video, but a certain exuberance shines through. Marcia (Audrey Reid) is a single mother whose best shot at supporting her family involves persuading the wealthy Uncle Larry (Carl Davis) to hang around her 15-year-old daughter in exchange for housekeeping money.

When the teenager wants no part of this, Marcia realises that an alternative plan is called for. So she does what any of us would do. She dresses up like a carnival float and enters a dance competition. Ex-Big Audio Dynamite member Don Letts is one of the two directors, and as usual he makes his presence felt by finding visual rhythms to match the musical ones.