I highly recommend this documentary to anyone wishing to know about the forgotten African Holocaust. While the reenactments are at times rather incongruous and it employs some rather 'dramatic' devices betraying an historians' oath to be 'sine ira et studio' (having the king sit impassive in a mocked-up dock), they in no way detract from the remarkable story of savagery and, in the case of Morel and Casement in particular, heroism. It is a visual companion to Hochschild's 'King Leopold's Ghost', although it provides additional information such as the fate of the chief who brought one hundred and eighty-two long twigs and seventy-six smaller ones to represent that number of adults and children murdered by the A.B.I.R. Company in his district which I had been unable to find anywhere else. It also offers a solid number of other historians from the Congo itself as well as Belgium and the United Kingdom. The epilogue relating to Leopold's posthumous victory is particularly striking. www.tracesofevil.com
6 Reviews
A forgotten genocide
merikari29 July 2004
This excellent documentary tells one of the saddest stories of the late imperialist era, the genocide in the Belgian Congo. The growing need for rubber meant death for millions as the Belgian king himself set up world's most efficient production line for rubber. The cruel systematic murder was carried out for the greed of one man.
The document is set up as an imaginary trial against king Leopold III played by an actor. The material of the prosecution is crushing but king Leopold listens to the horrific details of the mass murder of an entire nation without emotion, his face a mask of stone. This movie really stirred up emotions in me. How can things like these be forgotten? Even the Congolese themselves have forgotten their dark past. Some know of the great king that practically created the modern Congo, but few realize that he was personally responsible for the deaths of millions of their countrymen.
The document is set up as an imaginary trial against king Leopold III played by an actor. The material of the prosecution is crushing but king Leopold listens to the horrific details of the mass murder of an entire nation without emotion, his face a mask of stone. This movie really stirred up emotions in me. How can things like these be forgotten? Even the Congolese themselves have forgotten their dark past. Some know of the great king that practically created the modern Congo, but few realize that he was personally responsible for the deaths of millions of their countrymen.
Damnation of a king and his rape of a country
dbborroughs4 September 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Damning indictment of King Leopold of Belgium who in a mad desire to make money for himself, not his kingdom, managed to get his hands on the Congo. At first it was a money suck but once the need for rubber came he became super wealthy. Ruling with and iron fist he practiced genocide on the population in order to squeeze as much money out of the country. Things got so bad that a call was made for him to be tried for his crimes. It didn't happen and Leopold was forced to use public relations to seem a great humanitarian instead of a genocidal megalomaniac.
This solid documentary has upset many in Belgium who see this as besmirching the beloved memory of a past monarch. For my money the crimes, even if inflated, are hard to over look. I was shocked at just how bad it was. It's a damning indictment of the madness of a time not so long ago.
For most of this films running time its a film that you fall into. You can't help but get carried away by the madness. The trouble is that the darkness of the tale is overwhelming at a certain point I started to shut off. Don't get me wrong its a great tale, its just a brutal and unhappy one and after 90 minutes you feel beaten up.
A must see.
This solid documentary has upset many in Belgium who see this as besmirching the beloved memory of a past monarch. For my money the crimes, even if inflated, are hard to over look. I was shocked at just how bad it was. It's a damning indictment of the madness of a time not so long ago.
For most of this films running time its a film that you fall into. You can't help but get carried away by the madness. The trouble is that the darkness of the tale is overwhelming at a certain point I started to shut off. Don't get me wrong its a great tale, its just a brutal and unhappy one and after 90 minutes you feel beaten up.
A must see.
Weaknesses in the delivery are totally masked by the material
bob the moo4 June 2007
Leopold II was king of Belgium when he sought out countries for to colonise. The invention of a new type of tyre by a man called Dunlop made rubber a valuable commodity and Leopold found that the African nation of Congo offered him great riches and power. With great cruelty and greed, Leopold turned the country into one massive labour camp where the rubber was stripped with murder, amputation, mutilation and other unspeakable acts used to control and dominate the country. Between 1880 and 1920 the population of the Congo went from approximately 20,000,000 to closer to 10,000,000.
Although I was not entirely convinced by the methods of delivered used throughout this film, it is hard to find it anything but fascinating because it is an intense period of recent history that many casual viewers will know much about. When you consider that few people in the West (and I mean "normal" people) knew the true scale of what happened in Rwanda until Hollywood helped put a spotlight on it, it is not unfair to assume that few will know about the Congo over a hundred years ago. I have visited Belgium and viewed some of the great buildings etc that were built by Leopold off the back of his income from Congo and there is nothing in that country that I saw to tell me anything of this dark history.
And this is what makes the film so fascinating because it reveals the extent of this but also goes beyond to cover the way into Congo and how pressure from outside Belgium came to bare on Leopold as the truth started to come out into the world. The film does this very well because it would have been easy (and understandable) to have done nothing more than focus on the cruelty of the "civilisation" but just as shocking as how Belgium rewrote history just after the death of Leopold. The dramatisations were not always the strongest part of the film as sometimes they are damaged by the effect of having "Leopold" sitting there or having unnecessary music playing. However when the performance is good and it involves the individual just speaking without anything else to distract, it is powerful stuff. I have respect for Nick Fraser as one of the Storyville producers but as a narrator I'm sad to say that he is roundly poor I just thought his voice was too flat and lacking distinction.
Overall though it is a fascinating film thanks to the good job it does in regards delivering this forgotten history in a clear and concise way. Not perfect perhaps but for the casual viewer the content will more than cover for these weaknesses.
Although I was not entirely convinced by the methods of delivered used throughout this film, it is hard to find it anything but fascinating because it is an intense period of recent history that many casual viewers will know much about. When you consider that few people in the West (and I mean "normal" people) knew the true scale of what happened in Rwanda until Hollywood helped put a spotlight on it, it is not unfair to assume that few will know about the Congo over a hundred years ago. I have visited Belgium and viewed some of the great buildings etc that were built by Leopold off the back of his income from Congo and there is nothing in that country that I saw to tell me anything of this dark history.
And this is what makes the film so fascinating because it reveals the extent of this but also goes beyond to cover the way into Congo and how pressure from outside Belgium came to bare on Leopold as the truth started to come out into the world. The film does this very well because it would have been easy (and understandable) to have done nothing more than focus on the cruelty of the "civilisation" but just as shocking as how Belgium rewrote history just after the death of Leopold. The dramatisations were not always the strongest part of the film as sometimes they are damaged by the effect of having "Leopold" sitting there or having unnecessary music playing. However when the performance is good and it involves the individual just speaking without anything else to distract, it is powerful stuff. I have respect for Nick Fraser as one of the Storyville producers but as a narrator I'm sad to say that he is roundly poor I just thought his voice was too flat and lacking distinction.
Overall though it is a fascinating film thanks to the good job it does in regards delivering this forgotten history in a clear and concise way. Not perfect perhaps but for the casual viewer the content will more than cover for these weaknesses.
You wouldn't belive what comes next!!!
dabird-005391 February 2022
Well I'll be honest it was just a normal run of the mill day in a nice fresh wet 1988 December. I turn on my T. V. and bang crash a lightning flash White King, Red Rubber, Black Death. Now I know how that sounds you must be asking how white can he be. Well Woodshed Me! Let me tell you when they say white they mean white... And I'm not even religious! Now for my critiques. The first episode starts quite splendidly if I say so myself they set the scene in Donkey Kong's home town where we meet our protagonist the mean green china machine Red Rubber and his funny African Affiliation Black Death(Christian Bale). Now I bet there must be a flurry of questions going through your head right now like "Well if this is such a perfect feature length film then whats with the imperfect score," and "well I don't know what if it falls off by season 2?" well let me ask you this. Has Little Jacob ever done you wrong? I hope you get my drift and learn to do better next time. Thanks for your time and God(Rutherford B. Hay) bless.
Based on British Tabloids AD 1900
guy-36615 June 2020
That King Leopold II of Belgium used (abused) the Congo, then his property, not a Belgian colony until 1908 (!), as a private source of income, is true. That thousands and perhaps hundreds of thousands of Congolese died of famine, diseases and the maiming and killings by (mostly) British mercenaries under the wing of Arab ex-slave traders is a fact. But there was no genocide. Why would one kill its working force and with which military force in the rain forest? Late 19th century? Check Hearts of Darkness (the book) or easier: Apocalypse Now (the movie). The number of ten million Congolese deaths in 27 years is absurd. The whole population was estimated at less than 15 million in 1885. Estimated.... This third rate unknown amateur historian and documentary filmmaker Peter Bate worked on 3rd generation hearsay and newspaper articles solely written in English, published in the late 19th and early 20th century.... Sigh. Produced by a Belgium second rate producer. And what a terrible poster!
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