PALM SPRINGS -- The story of the Congolese people and their nation -- through its permutations as Belgian Congo, Zaire and the Democratic Republic of the Congo -- is one of the cruelest chapters in modern history. It's a chapter that is far from over, as this exceptionally well-researched film by actress-turned-director Pippa Scott and co-director Oreet Rees makes painfully clear.
The dispiriting facts, drawn from Adam Hochschild's acclaimed 1998 book "King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa," have a harrowing power onscreen. As an introduction and overview, this is an important film. But in a sense the feature length feels awkward; a miniseries would be warranted, given the wealth of archival material, including photographs, illustrations, film footage and journal entries (read by narrator Don Cheadle, Alfre Woodard and James Cromwell, among others). After its world premiere at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, "King Leopold's Ghost" should have a long life on the small screen and video and, in the hands of the right distributor, could connect with theatrical audiences.
The Congo's history is the story of the unchecked quest for rubber, diamonds, ivory and uranium -- and today, coltan, a metallic ore essential to the production of computers and cell phones. The phrase "crimes against humanity" was first used in 1890 by American journalist George Washington Williams, exposing the system of slave labor, torture and mutilation that made Leopold II an unconscionably wealthy man and put his tiny nation of Belgium on the map as a colonial power. In the territory that became the Belgian Congo, Leopold happened upon one of the world's richest stores of natural resources. Ruthless enterprise cost the colony 10 million lives, or half its population, in a 40-year period beginning in 1885. Companies making 700% profit on rubber routinely chopped off the hands of workers who didn't meet their quotas.
The atrocities haven't ended; Congo today is one of the most unstable countries on Earth, mired in war with neighbors and the internecine maneuvers of illegal traders. In its hard-hitting depiction of a legacy of unspeakable brutality, this film shows that the ghosts of Leopold are alive and well.
The dispiriting facts, drawn from Adam Hochschild's acclaimed 1998 book "King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa," have a harrowing power onscreen. As an introduction and overview, this is an important film. But in a sense the feature length feels awkward; a miniseries would be warranted, given the wealth of archival material, including photographs, illustrations, film footage and journal entries (read by narrator Don Cheadle, Alfre Woodard and James Cromwell, among others). After its world premiere at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, "King Leopold's Ghost" should have a long life on the small screen and video and, in the hands of the right distributor, could connect with theatrical audiences.
The Congo's history is the story of the unchecked quest for rubber, diamonds, ivory and uranium -- and today, coltan, a metallic ore essential to the production of computers and cell phones. The phrase "crimes against humanity" was first used in 1890 by American journalist George Washington Williams, exposing the system of slave labor, torture and mutilation that made Leopold II an unconscionably wealthy man and put his tiny nation of Belgium on the map as a colonial power. In the territory that became the Belgian Congo, Leopold happened upon one of the world's richest stores of natural resources. Ruthless enterprise cost the colony 10 million lives, or half its population, in a 40-year period beginning in 1885. Companies making 700% profit on rubber routinely chopped off the hands of workers who didn't meet their quotas.
The atrocities haven't ended; Congo today is one of the most unstable countries on Earth, mired in war with neighbors and the internecine maneuvers of illegal traders. In its hard-hitting depiction of a legacy of unspeakable brutality, this film shows that the ghosts of Leopold are alive and well.
- 1/18/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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