kinolorber:The Playlist’s Best Documentaries of 2014 So Far: Göran Hugo Olsson’s “Concerning Violenc
kinolorber:The Playlist’s Best Documentaries of 2014 So Far: Göran Hugo Olsson’s “Concerning Violence”Director Göran Hugo Olsson certainly has a way with archival footage. In 2011 he released the excellent “The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975,” which used footage shot by Swedish journalists about the black power movement, to present a fascinating new window into a charged time in American history. This time his focus is on colonial Africa, and Olsson’s ambitions are matched by his skill, with the film once again using vintage footage, but with a much headier thesis. Divided into chapters, and using quotes from Frantz Fanon’s “The Wretched of the Earth” as the sole context, “Concerning Violence” essentially posits that any group of dispossessed people will eventually rise up to balance the scales. And the documentary takes viewers on a rich, fascinating trip through history, pointing out numerous examples in countries like Angola, Mozambique, Liberia and Burkina Faso, where groups and even political leaders, led an active resistance against Western forces. In an era where the line between documentaries and reality TV is beginning to blur, as personalities become their own subjects, “Concerning Violence” is a refreshing change. Olsson’s film is admirably literate, and trusts the audience to go with him into corners of the past that, if not forgotten by history, are certainly not commonly discussed. And they should be, as the message of “Concerning Violence” is that oppression is just one stop in a cycle that will see those underfoot rise up again. [Full Review] -- source link