Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
As sixteen African nations declared their independence from colonialism in 1960, Western nations concerned about their resources, most notably the uranium needed for nuclear weapons, got nervous when the Congo's prime minister Patrice Lumumba became receptive to Russian overtures, reacting to Belgium's power grab of the mining industry of Katanga. The C.I.A. backed an assassination plot, sending Louis Armstrong on an African tour as a distraction, a "Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat."
Laura's Review: A
Cowriter (with producer Daan Milius)/director Johan Grimonprez lays out the complexities of how the admittance of sixteen African countries into the U.N. led to the 1961 CIA backed coup and Eisenhower ordered assassination of the Congo's Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba with the collusion of Lumumba's Army Chief of Staff Mobuto and he sets the entire thing to an artfully deployed jazz soundtrack. Grimonprez's point of view is clear, leading to some black and white accusations against such figures as U.N. Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld, whose use of peacekeeping troops in the Congo, peacekeeping troops brought into existence by Lumumba's coalition of African and Asian nations, is called into question, his death in a plane crash as he was on his way to meet Katanga's President Tshombe, who colluded with Belgium, is never mentioned (see the 2019 documentary "Cold Case Hammarskjöld," which theorizes his plane was shot down by a Belgian pilot). His treatment of U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower and C.I.A. director Allen Dulles is less easily challenged.
That aside this two and a half hour documentary is compelling, weaving together a complex history in digestible chunks peppered with such amazing tidbits as Lumumba's Chief of Protocol, Andrée Blouin, traveling to Belgium with a secret document hidden within her elaborate hairdo (she would later be smeared as a slut who slept with 'every African chief' by the West) and cheekily inserting vintage ads for Belgium's Sabena airlines at relevant intervals. It is astonishing watching Nikita Khrushchev calling out Western hypocrisy as Malcolm X informs black Americans that the Congo's fight is their fight, just as it is entertaining seeing Khrushchev bang his shoe at the U.N. cut to Dizzy Gillespie's dancing feet. Grimonprez uses imagery of elephants being hoisted, prodded and dumped from a crane to make an allegorical statement while featuring artist Rene Magritte's 'This is not a pipe' quote on his painting depicting a pipe. The timing of Belgium's King Baudouin's marriage is also pinpointed as politically motivated.
Grimonprez's use of music is inspired, from the mournful songs of Nina Simone to the more experimental John Coltrane and Thelonius Monk jazz he inserts when things heat up, all introduced with vibrant blue and gold graphics. There is incredible depth to his selections which also feature Armstrong, Miriam Makeba, female trumpeter Melba Liston, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis and many more. In addition to their music, singer Abbey Lincoln and jazz drummer Max Roach are seen crashing the U.N. Security Council in protest of Lumumba's assassination.
"Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat" is one of 2024's very best documentaries, not only in substance but in its revolutionary form. Hopefully it also leads audiences to revisit "I Am Not Your Negro's" Raoul Peck's 2000 bio pic, "Lumumba."
Robin's Review: A
In 1960, the African continent was in the throes of shaking off the oppressive yoke of colonization by the western powers. In the Belgian Congo, Patrice Lumumba rose to prominence in the independence movement but proved too dangerous for the powers-that-be and was murdered, set to music, in “Soundtrack to a Coup D’état.”
Going into “Soundtrack,” I looked forward to hearing Louis Armstrong and other jazz greats of the time. What I got was a comprehensive, incredibly well-documented analysis of historical events when great change was in the making in Africa.
During that turbulent period in African history, American jazz luminaries, led by the great Louis Armstrong and including Miles Davis, Nina Simone, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk and Ella Fitzgerald were sent by the US government as ambassadors to help quell anti-colonial fears and, in the process, help cover up the CIA’s Lumumba murder plot. The intent was to use black American music to assuage the tempers of those wanting freedom.
Director Johan Grimonprez and his documentary team assemble an incredible selection of archival footage from the period. We get to see Nikita Khrushchev lambast the United States for its anti-racial policies at home and foster the revolutionary movements in Africa – a United States of Africa under the influence of the Soviet Union. Also, Fidel Castro supporting Lumumba on the floor of the UN plays prominent.
Much of what we learn about the world, especially in Africa in the 1950’s and 60s, I was familiar with. But, there was an equal amount that I had not seen or heard before, making “Soundtrack,” with its special music a unique documentary indeed. The filmmakers carefully use the tone of the music of our jazz greats as a counterpoint to the events being shown. This is, easily, for me the best documentary of the year.
Kino Lorber released "Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat" in select theaters on 11/1/24, expanding into the New Year. Click here for theaters and play dates.
