Bande-son pour un coup d'État

What do jazz and a Coup d'Etat in Central Africa have in common? This documentary by Belgian filmmaker Johan Grimonprez uses a wide selection of historic footage to tell the story, spy thriller style. From American jazz greats such as Louis Armstrong and Nina Simone performing in Africa as good-will ambassadors, to on-the-ground scenes in the Congo as a Coup dÉtat brewed, powerful images fill the screen in rapid sequence. The narrative moves fast for 2 hours and 30 minutes, fusing music, sound, images and graphics to create a new kind of film. Although scenes were shot over half a century ago, the film feels fresh, urgent and contemporary.

This is not a "casual watching" kind of movie. I am glad I watched at home, because I had to stop and rewind a few times. At the end of the intense 150 minutes, one feels they experienced an immersion into a period of history through contemporary eyes, a rewarding dive. Brilliantly researched and edited, a Sundance Cinematic Innovation award recipient and Oscar nominee for Best Documentary, this film moves like jazz.

It's a documentary on the birth of the Republic of Congo and the assassination of its first prime minister, Patrice Lumumba. The approach incorporates much film footage from about 1950 to the early 1960s, juxtaposing the music and comments of leading jazz musicians of the era with contemporary news footage. Particular emphasis is placed on the various political machinations at the United Nations by Nikita Khrushchev, Dwight Eisenhower, Adlai Stevenson, and other world leaders, including Fidel Castro and Malcolm X.

At some levels, "Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat" is an intelligent and brilliant work with an incredible musical score. However, it takes too long to make the fundamental connection between the American jazz musicians and Patrice Lumumba. When it finally does, it's highly effective, but a half hour could easily have been edited from the final production.

Whereas a documentary of this caliber on the direct-to-streaming aisle would incorporate your basic interviews and archival footage with little to no forethought, Soundtrack to a Coup d'État is a rallying cry within a musical odyssey. Hyperfast editing and a symphonic pace make this visual essay so special, resembling jazz's rigid but unforgettable structure. Vastly covering the Congo's struggle for independence (with jazz giants being the preface)- the inherent timeliness to today's genocidal crimes reflects a period not too astray from ours.

At times it may seem like the gargantuan presence of information overwhelms the viewer into submission, but rest assured the film continues its tapestry of bedazzlement all the way through. This is how historical documentaries should be made. Lessons will be learned, techniques will be seen. Enthralling from beginning to end, Soundtrack to a Coup d'État must not be missed. A charming, distinctive gateway for those yearning to learn more about deep-seated neocolonialism.

During my life on the European continent, in a wealthy country that has benefitted enormously through the ages by suppressing other cultures, the stories of peoples enduring this suppression have been supressed enough that a story of this magnitude can suddenly struck you into silence.

A breathtaking musical journey depicting the rise and fall of the first Premier of Congo, Mr. Patrice Lumumba, showing the atrocities that the powers that be had to commit to steer history into a different direction.

I would like to implore anyone who hasn't seen this, to view this at your own peril, because this powerful documentary can blow your mind.

SOUNDTRACK TO A COUP D'ETAT (2024) Nominated for Best Documentary Feature. Johan Grimonprez' dynamic, densely layered Documentary is ostensibly about the Coup in the Republic of Congo in 1960 which dethroned Patrice Lumumba, but it extends further into the cultural and long-term political instability in the region.

Grimonprez blends Jazz and Blues with readings from several works on the subject as well as a generous amount newsreel footage to provide the 'Soundtrack'. It is the music which provides the ebb and flow of the film by the likes of Nina Simone, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Abbey Lincoln, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Charles Mingus and Ornette Coleman. Max Roach's impassioned drumming is its blistering heartbeat. The graphics of the title card and on the posters evoke the style of Jazz and Blues records of that era.

Grimonprez' work is rigorously sourced with on screen annotations and references. Sometimes, it's all a bit too fast and furious to take it all in, but this is a highly engaging Doc which is riveting for its full 150 minutes. Many of the musicians were in the forefront of exposing the U. S. government's involvement in the overthrow. The Soviet Union's Nikita Khrushchev of all persons comes off as one of independent Congo's greatest defenders (of course, with major ulterior motives of his own). The clips of his colorful U. N. antics are given significantly better context here than usual. In addition to the CIA, the usually thought of as peaceful nation of Belgium stands as the villains of the piece.

SOUNDTRACK OF A COUP D'ETAT dares to be 'entertaining', but it's never less than thoughtful, thorough and provocative. A sterling Documentary.