Africa Addio

The mondo film that is not staged, which makes it far worse than the ones that are. Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi spent years filming the violent end of European colonial Africa, and the result is appalling footage framed by a reactionary, colonial-nostalgic narration that mourns the empire's passing.

The filmmakers were accused of staging an execution for the camera, a charge they beat, but the film's real problem is its perspective, which treats African self-rule as catastrophe. It is a genuine historical document poisoned by its point of view.

Important as evidence, indefensible as argument. A hard and instructive watch.