Les maîtres fous

Saliva bursts from their shuddering mouths, forming bubbly clouds of white. Obviously, images such as these are quite shocking and unpleasant, but one must get used to them before delving into Jean Roach's twisted short film "The Mad Masters"

"The Mad Masters" is a film as weird and fascinating as its subject, a religious sect in West Africa. Roach's lens follows their often uncomfortable rituals, as they are "possessed" by spirits and even manage to drink blood. Throughout the film, many unforgettable images are exposed to the viewer. Whether these people are genuinely being possessed by spirits or not, there is no denying that their movements, actions, and noises whilst in such a state are quite petrifying. Their dances of painful possession shall forever remain in my cinematic memory as some of the strangest and most unbelievable content I have witnessed in a documentary film.

Simple premise of this film is to follow the effects of colonialism on indigenous Africans via specific rituals developed as a reaction to the colonial system. The film turns into a crazy elaboration on both the madness of such a political system and man himself. At once we are amazed and confused by the violent and involved trance that the Africans take part in; however, we are, at the same time, forced to recognize the power that the camera may have over those in front of it. That is, the very "reality" of a documentary is dissolved or, at least, questioned. Disturbing and essential.

This rare and interesting piece of film really struck me when I watched it. I was already expecting something like those old National Geographic films I remember seeing now and then as a kid, they must have shown them on TV at some point. This however is a bit different in that you are presented at times with quite horrific imagery and scenarios. As long as you have an open mind and are not going to get squeamish at the ritual sacrifice of a chicken, (a dog too but you do not see this at least), then I would say that everyone should watch this! These Africans are showing a quasi-religious ceremony that is an obvious reaction and mocking of the British colony masters. Each Hauka is dressed to represent some Colonel or General etc and they mock them whilst at the same time, showing a very intense and, at times, frightening display of trance and 'spiritual' behaviour. Watching this movie has opened my eyes to what I already loved to watch but did not know the term for it: Ethnographic Cinema. Ethnography. There are so many great films of records of Africans and Tribal peoples around the world and I find them so interesting. In fact this one isn't as good as a couple I already got a hold of and have just watched (Turkana Conversations Trilogy (1974) - Three films by David Macdougall & Judith Macdougall - Shot in Turkana, Kenya.) I highly recommend you checking those out if you find yourself being fascinated by this film.

I know this is given the genre of Documentary, or as it is also stated in some reviews and recaps as "Ethnography," but I take this so completely into a work of fictional/dramatized recreations of whatever these Hauka movement rituals are that it enters into the realm of some bizarre otherworldly dream or even a collective hallucination. Everything that these tribes people are doing is so heightened and manic that it turns into this grotesque madhouse comedy version of a ritual, and it isn't just from the people on screen but how Rouch cuts and edits it all.

Is it offensive? Shrug. Maybe there's a Bizarro-world MAGA version of me who is also watching this as part of 1001 Movies List and Googling "they're eating the dogs" etc and freaking out. For me, all of the foaming mouths I take to be a goof on Colonialism - if that indeed is the aim of what these folks are up to - by donning all of these ridiculous clothes and doing all of these ludicrous contortions. It is disturbing to see that it is dog being cooked, but this is somewhat mitigated by the fact that at least there isn't footage of the poor good girl or boy being slaughtered. And this is presented all so wild and crazy that if you told me it was not dog at all, I'd believe you just the same.

I can't say I learned really much at all (albeit it was a little difficult to follow given the hit and miss captions on the YouTube video), and it took reading a few reviews to get the gifst; but it was original and hypnotic as a short experimental film as much if not more than a documentary, and that's not nothing.

It details the bizarre religious practices of the Hauka, a sect of sub-Saharan Africans living and working in Accra, the largest city in Ghana. The Hauka gather at a nearby cocoa plantation to take part in their rituals, which consist of "spirit possession". They flail about as if in an epileptic fit, foaming at the mouth, sometimes bleeding from the mouth, shouting in gibberish, and attacking themselves and others. There's also some grisly animal sacrifices (a goat and a dog) but they're kept mostly off-screen. While I find the rituals ridiculous and depressing, I can respect the filmmaking involved. This has the feel of an early National Geographic piece, and an early version of the type of sensationalist stuff that would come out of Italy in the 1960's, with titles like Mondo Cane. Director Rouch's implication is that these bizarre rites are a result of a society set into turmoil by the evils of European colonialism, and he has a valid point. It's only about 30 minutes long, and not for the squeamish. Another short from one of the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.