The thing about history is that it’s never fixed. It moves and changes with the rhythm of who tells it, who listens, and what medium is used to tell it. Agreement among people is very difficult to achieve, but Johan Grimonprez, a documentary filmmaker has always been interested in finding truth from the time and bias wrought wreckage of reality through his examination of it.
In this latest work, however, the Belgian director plays with this rhythm to an extent that can only be described as mind bending; following his Hitchcockian “Double Take” (2009) and “Shadow World” (2017), an exploration into the global arms trade worth billions of dollars. At the Sundance festival now comes another masterpiece by him which he calls “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat.” This vibrant film essay merges jazz and politics to untangle colonial power plays in Congo during 1960s.
There are vast tracks of land to cover though in 150 minutes Mr Grimonprez will race across huge expanses of time and space showing how Belgian monarchy worked together with US government as well as various corporations towards killing off their own puppet leader Patrice Lumumba mostly using Jazz music.
For instance African American legend Dizzy Gillespie was sent over there just so he could distract attention from what was considered at that point America’s first post-colonial coup on African soil; not that any musician knew anything about being used as bait obviously! “America’s secret weapon is a blue note in a minor key,” said one New York Times article while another described Louis Armstrong as its “most effective ambassador”. But music isn’t only for deception Drummer Max Roach drew inspiration directly from independence movements throughout Africa before crashing UN Security Council later with singer Abbey Lincoln protesting against them too therefore effectively re-writing those parts of history books which Grimonprez grew up reading back home through jazz.
“Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat” cuts between official texts, home movies shot by Lumumba himself and historic footage some of which had been thought lost forever until this movie came along. “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat” does all these things with endless rhythm rumba and jazz. The film uses no voiceover narration at all so that the music becomes a character itself pulling together different points of view from various media into one coherent whole. Editor Rik Chaubet and sound designer Ranko Pauković work seamlessly using visuals & sound to trigger happiness, tension (and anything else) while making sense out of almost too much information
Decoy African-American musicians like Dizzy Gillespie and Nina Simone were sent to hide America’s first African post-colonial coup, as the artists themselves didn’t know. According to the movie, “America’s secret weapon is a blue note in a minor key” and Louis Armstrong was called “its most effective ambassador” in the same New York Times article. However, music is not only used for subterfuge. Drummer Max Roach and singer Abbey Lincoln later crashed the Security Council in protest with direct inspiration from Africa’s independence movement in Africa, and jazz reframes that Grimonprez and other Belgians grew up reading Soundtrack books history d’Etat” does this too effectively through a coup of its own.
“Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat,” which cuts between home movies, official texts, historical footage, Lumumba’s speeches (thought lost forever before this film was made) among others uses an endless rhythm of rumba-jazz weave all these things together. without any omniscient narration speaking for itself becomes character connecting media various perspectives into one whole editor chaubet seamlessly evoke joy tension ranko paukovic sound designer visually helps digest almost overwhelming amount information much easier.
“Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat” is not a history lesson in the traditional sense. The impressionistic flair of Grimonprez’s doc asks audiences to actively participate in piecing everything together here but it can be hard work at points given how film doesn’t travel along an easy linear path again vibrant pacing different times locations freewheeling jazz heart these events
A lot of what is talked about is dark and sometimes depressing, but there is still hope even after Lumumba’s death. Post-colonialism gave power to African and African-American leaders who refused to stand down. After a long chain of events, this culminated in a protest in 1961 where Maya Angelou et al joined Max Roach and Abbey Lincoln in a protest against the United Nations. “Bigoted sons of bitches” and “You Ku Klux Klan motherfuckers,” reads the archive footage with bold letters as Roach’s drums and Lincoln’s voice hit the highest point of defiance. It’s an electrifying rally that feels uniquely cinematic because so many things come together at once and yet still feels so natural too.
Grimonprez isn’t naive about history either though; he knows it doesn’t always work out this way. After setting up such an inspiring sequence only for it to fizzle out, the film cuts to modern-day Eastern Congo where nothing has changed 60 years later. We don’t spend much time here, but it’s important that we do because images like a father shielding his children from missile launch right nearby remind us that colonialism never really disappeared; it just put on new clothes over time as international mining conglomerates & various superpowers continue working to keep these things like they are today.
That’s not where the movie ends though; history doesn’t go straight forward like that not ever. Just like the jazz rhythms running through this “Soundtrack,” the truth about what happened before now and how it affects us now doesn’t have an ending in any traditional sense. There is always more to be found, another angle which changes everything, & while objectivity will forever be impossible it’s fascinating watching Grimonprez try anyway especially when doing so uncovers such important voices of dissent as Miriam Makeba, Madame Andree Blouin or indeed Lumumba himself, whose words could not be more relevant today than they were six decades ago.
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