Colonial dirty war to the rhythm of jazz

Johan Grimonprez has woven a vibrant historical documentary about the coup d'état suffered by Patrice Lumumba's government in the Republic of Congo, with the Cold War in the background. The author measures the threads that linked the dreams of fraternity and federation in postcolonial (or should we say neocolonial?) Africa with the political struggles and Afro-American cultural expressions committed to civil rights in the United States, where laws still discriminated against the black population. And, in passing, he livens up the exercise of colonial memory with pieces by Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane and Miles Davis.

Soundtrack for a coup d'état It has a very careful montage of archival materials and textual sources cited with resounding conciseness and agile post-production, among attractive graphics that wink at emblematic design lines of the records of the time. Grimonprez covers his history lesson with an attractive formal wrapping, but is very forceful when it comes to denouncing the horrors of racism and the sewers of the intelligence services that kill in the name of the national interestsThe prominence of music contributes to lengthening the film (150 minutes), but it rounds out the aesthetic experience and facilitates immersion in the past. Some editing gestures may seem somewhat frivolous when we are talking about plundering, assassinations and bloody armed conflicts, but perhaps irony or sarcasm are understandable responses when faced with overly shameful realities.