Director: Johan Grimonprez
Writers: Johan Grimonprez, Daan Milius
Stars: Louis Armstrong, Nina Simone, Miles Davis
Synopsis: Jazz and decolonization are entwined in this historical rollercoaster that rewrites the Cold War episode that led musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach to crash the UN Security Council in protest against the murder of Patrice Lumumba.
Politics and music during the 1950s and 1960s and the Civil Rights Movement aren’t strangers to the movies, with countless releases touching on this timeline. Archive footage and recordings of those who were there are limitless in a hostile era beyond the United States. International events, such as the Cold War and the decolonization of Africa, dominated the headlines and grabbed the attention of many artists, especially African-Americans who felt their ancestors finally being free from Europe’s grasp of centuries of domination and exploitation. The centerpiece of director Johan Grimonprez’s exhilarating documentary is the current Democratic Republic of the Congo, when it was given independence in 1960 by Belgium, but was quickly overwhelmed by various forces inside and out of the country. The main figure of this story was the country’s first Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba.
Intercutting between archival footage, interviews, and splashy newspaper graphics to tell the narrative of this massive event, Grimonprez sets up one of the more explosive and original documentaries this year. The Cold War heated up between the United States and the Soviet Union as the United Nations added sixteen newly independent countries, all from Africa, creating a new geopolitical shift between East and West. These countries, former European colonies mainly from Britain and France, suddenly hold power in what the UN will do with future conflicts, namely the Belgian colony of the Congo and the push for independence. (To better explain that background, I’d recommend reading “King Leopold’s Ghost” by Adam Hochschild.)
In the middle of this, the United States, fearing the country and its charismatic, socialist leader Lumumba would tilt the country into the Soviet sphere, decided to send jazz musicians like Louis Armstrong and Nina Simone on a goodwill tour to the continent. In reality, these were CIA-funded covers to reach out to leaders to win their support and stay close to the West, and other jazz musicians like drummer Max Roach and singer Abbey Lincoln realized this. However, from independence, Belgium, with the implicit backing of the United Nations, supported what amounts to a coup to overthrow and assassinate Lumumba in favor of rivals in the country. This struggle played out with other world leaders, including Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, demanding the end of foreign interference as they recognized the clear smokescreen the US provided, with jazz musicians going to play to thousands.
There are many characters, especially the number of jazz artists, but you always keep track as Grimonprez identifies the leads and supporting players. The leading sources who control the narrative are Andrée Blouin, an associate of Lumumba, Congolese writer In Koli Jean Bofane, Irish diplomat to the Congo Conor Cruise O’Brien, and Khrushchev himself. All four have unique voice overs from past interviews that told what happened on the ground and contrasted it to American and British television and their coverage which had a different story playing out in public. For those who have never heard about this subject, the story plays like a political thriller and Grimonprez never lets loose the tension as we go back and forth between the Congo and the US. Brief cuts to the present day where the country remains in constant conflict and UN peacekeepers are still around is a reminder that what started in 1960 has not yet ended.
Soundtrack To A Coup d’Etat explores an expansive narrative that connects jazz and Cold War politics with exceptional capacity that makes its 150-minute runtime worthy. There isn’t a moment that drops off and our eyes remain fixated on the screen. The editing and sound design work in sync with the changing graphics, allowing us to take in all of this information steadily and understandably as the film unravels to the climax of this brutal chapter in world history. To quote a New York Times article cited in the movie, “America’s secret weapon is a blue note in a minor key.” That key, however, is as explosive as Dizzy Gillespie playing his unique trumpet or Armstrong’s growling voice.
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