Bokassa I - Échos d'un sombre empire

It's a terrible truth of western sensibilities that world events and history outside the direct and immediate sphere of influence usually go entirely unremarked. I'm sure I'm not the only person who, owing to the lack of meaningfully broad education, has upon exploring the films of Werner Herzog learned for the first time of Jean-Bédel Bokassa and his crimes. The story of Bokassa is one that has played out across the world over and over again, especially in places where western imperialism has left countries in ruin, but as the past few years have urgently demonstrated not even the United States is safe from despots. 'Echoes from a somber empire' paints a familiar portrait of a figure who was egotistical, narcissistic, hypocritical, and paranoid, not to mention cruel; attitudes and policies characterized by corruption, opulence, and ridiculous personal gratification on one level, all superseded on another by brutal violence, sociopolitical repression, and the codification and enforcement of strict and senseless morality; and among still other matters, denial of wrongdoing that also attempts to deflect blame onto others. It would be very easy for a documentary exploring such a person, and such a time and place, to become a simple recitation of all wrongdoing, with horrid descriptions. Herzog takes another approach, however, and as he does this film stands apart from other that may broach similar subject matter.

In his pictures both fiction and non-fiction, Herzog excels at examining humanity - good, bad, and everything in between - with the same dispassionate detachment as with which one may capture footage of a leopard mauling an antelope. Here that objectivity is turned to some degree toward showing us the complexities of an individual who was responsible for egregious violations of human rights and loss of life. The difference is that for whatever recounting we get of specific actions, including footage of Bokassa's lavish and frivolous spending, the majority of 'Echoes' is spent giving viewers an impression of his rule through the recollections of lived experiences of those around or under him. In this regard Herzog's feature is a bit indirect, but that's just the point: sensational tales of authoritarians' foul deeds tend to overshadow the stories of countless more ordinary people who are affected by those deeds, but who are no less deserving of remembrance. With this in mind, there are only so many people who can be interviewed for a 90 minute documentary, and so much information that can be conveyed therein, so one may reasonably argue that 'Echoes' comes up short in not truly giving a complete picture of Bokassa and his rule, and in some sense minimizing what he did or oversaw. Still, the unusual tack of this movie is noteworthy for diverging from what in this genre passes for convention, and in somewhat deemphasizing and skirting around the primary subject to speak of others whose stories would otherwise be lost to time.

Herzog and his crew follow journalist Michael Goldsmith as he, and not the filmmaker, revisits certain key sites, and converses with key persons. Interspersed with this is footage of Bokassa from the hopeless self-absorption and pomposity of his coronation, or from his trials, as well as still photos. We get a clear idea of who Bokassa was, but always 'Echoes' is mindful enough not to plainly exhibit the utmost indifference toward humanity that the "emperor" embodied. To that end, I suppose it's fair to argue that the film treats Bokassa too lightly, but I think the point is made nonetheless. And it's all capped off with a sad, unforgettable closing shot that seems superficially out of place, yet which in its own unique way serves to accentuate the grotesque madness that enveloped the Central African Republic under the man's reign. For one reason or another I can certainly appreciate that this movie won't appeal to all comers, and the topic alone may be worthy of a content warning. However, for anyone in an interest in documentaries or world history generally, or in the works of Werner Herzog specifically, 'Echoes from a somber empire' is another finely crafted piece of non-fiction that is well worth checking out if one has the chance.

A Werner Herzog documentary I don't care for.

This is the story of Michael Goldsmith a reporter who is trying to get some semblance of the life of Jean Bedel Bokassa one time emperor of Central Africa. Bokassa had Goldsmith beaten and almost killed several times. We watch as Goldsmith talks to friends, family, enemies and anyone who knew the emperor, who at the time of the filming was in prison having been sentenced to death in absentia. Herzog follows Goldsmith and lets him ask the questions he wants to ask and go to the places he wants to go to. There is no judgment on anyone just the facts as laid out by the people on the way. Its a trip into a heart of darkness.

I'm not sure what I make of the film. The problem is that other than a vague passing notion I have no idea who Bokassa was. I didn't know very much about him, actually I knew almost nothing about him, and after seeing the film I'm not sure I know any more. Goldsmith, the central figure of the film is also a strange man. Nearly beaten to death by Bokassa and his sons he never the less stayed in contact with the man when he was sent into exile.Its never clear why he would want to stay in touch with a man who nearly killed him on more than one occasion. he comes off as a rather odd duck.(Herzog reads a letter at the start of the film from Goldsmith has gone missing and is believed dead. Actually he survived and died about the time the film was released of a stomach hemorrhage).

To be honest the film bored me. I didn't have clue as to why I was watching this. Yes Herzog's films can be oblique and make you wonder whats going on, but at the same time there is always a hook. There is always some kernel of curiosity that is the way in. Here there simply is Goldsmith and his quest. There is no hook, there is no way in unless you know something about its subject, though having spent sometime on-line trying to find out about Bokassa and Goldsmith I'm not sure I would try the film again., its just not that interesting.

Echoes From a Somber Empire (1990)

*** (out of 4)

Werner Herzog documentary about Central Africa's rule under Bokassa, which includes stories of torture as well as the leader being a cannibal. We are led through the documentary by a man named Michael Goldsmith who was tortured and imprisoned by Bokassa and now, since the leader is in jail, he goes back to get some answers. Various people from those tortured to the children of Bokassa are told and some in vivid detail. We're also shown a kitchen where it's said Bokassa would have people cooked on the huge stoves and then stored in the fridge. At the start of the documentary Herzog tells us that Goldsmith would go missing before the film was released.

Echos Aus Einem Düsteren Reich.( In English that's)- Echoes From A Sombre Empire

How do people make documentaries like this? it astounds me. First things first, this is beautiful and greatly sad. This documentary, however, only serves as a light dressing to try and anoint a wound long and deep and still bleeding: It cannot heal the scars left behind by the tyranny of what happened in the Central African Republic, but it serves as many things, mainly to aid the goodwill of mankind, to remind the viewer that you must never sympathise with perpetrators of terror in any disguise, shape or form. Jean-Bédel Bokassa was a product of the civilised world which created him, and they had to pay for his actions at great cost to the world. This documentary follows one man, Goldsmith, who was greatly affected by Bokassa, but remained true to his investigative, journalist instincts that put him into a torture chamber for many years, and although being a gentle man, he is a torchbearer for the truth, and he really got to me above all else. He uncovers the two sides of Bokassa, the human and the Cannibal Dictator, through interviewing the people who knew him well before being sentenced to death. Herzog helps him and the viewer on his quest for knowledge of the unknown and closure for what happened in Goldsmith's and the world's heavy past. In conclusion, this is by far the best source you are going to get on an intense period of history that says more to us about who we are than anything else, because it forces us to recognise that which was documented here as the truth, and we are put to the test as to whether we are strong enough to bear witness to the sadness created in the name of our pathetic and lonely civilisation, the cold heart of capitalism is something we must understand. Sometimes the truth does not set you free, sometimes it only reinforces what is already concrete, and that which is concrete cannot be anything more, and the failure of the other reviewer's perceptions is they tried to look for something beyond what is a perfect representation of the truth, they hold certain lies about what a film is very dear to them, but they fell short of the truth and are unsatisfied as a result. This is not a film for action junkies. Another reviewer on this website was talking about this docu having a lack of a 'Hook', which is sad because sometimes it is better to totally except what anguish does, and use your knowledge and your reflections on the sadness that happens to better your own lives so that you don't end up creating this confusing, endless void of ideas where the truth is told to wait while you look for the truth that suits you, but inevitably is created as a lie. Don't deny the Imperfectable, enjoy the freedom you have to watch this film and go on the journey this film will give you if you are warm-hearted.

***** If you liked this film... To be compared with it : "Idi Amin Dada: Autoportrait" a documentary by another German film maker Barbet Schroeder who got special permission from crack-pot philosopher, self-proclaimed-economist and sinister dictator idi amin to film him. A seriously good film and comparison piece to Herzog's *****