Release Date – 15th November 2024, Cert – 12, Run-time – 2 hours 30 minutes, Director – Johan Grimonprez
Documentary examining the influence of and for jazz in relation to the decolonisation of Africa and the geopolitical response in the 1950s and 60s.
The spirit of jazz permeates into every frame of Johan Grimonprez’s Soundtrack To A Coup d’Etat. Not just in the unrelenting score which maintains its energy from start to finish, but in the overall freewheeling style of the film as a whole. There’s so much being covered that I know for a fact my above plot summary is undeniably incorrect. For 2-and-a-half-hours the film barrels through the geopolitical tensions of the 1950s and 60s, with specific focus on the world’s responses to a decolonised Africa, particularly through the lens of jazz.
Running through the cold war, racial tensions in America, the influence of and for jazz music at the time everything links to create a grand portrait of the time, particularly regarding race relations in the eye of politics and music. Even the first hour is packed with so much fast-paced detail that many other films would take just one detail of for a focus point. Yet, Grimonprez and editor Rik Chaubet are never light on detail; they make sure that everything connects, linking one point to the next with as seamless an effect as the various stages of the score throughout. With just as much bounce, as well, from the opening stages there’s an enjoyable nature to the documentary, which still manages to get across its serious points as it delves into the messages of the music and the political impact that it was having, and in some cases being used to have as artists such as Louis Armstrong were flown around the world to show a healthier portrait of American actions in, or views towards, other countries.
Slowing down a little bit for the more serious elements of the final hour, particularly regarding the assassination of Patrice Lumumba and the events following around the world, particularly in regards to the UN, there’s still plenty of pace to the film. The more serious themes are handled well within the shape of the execution and continue to make the film undefinable as to what it’s actually about, and not in a negative way. At times the style might start to get exhausting, it certainly doesn’t stop to give you a breather at any point, but it means that the film is consistently lifted, particularly in tandem with the music which underpins everything. It’s a highly enjoyable documentary that knows how it wants to demonstrate its plethora of points and does so with a great deal of success. Paralleling what it shows by using the score to lift the events unfolding on screen which has a knock on effect in enhancing the jazz itself.
While its fast-paced freewheeling style might begin to get exhausting Soundtrack To A Coup d’Etat is a brilliantly laid out documentary of many united subjects, being influenced by and enhancing its jazz score to create entertainment and make a number of successful serious points.
Just A Little Bit Random 