Congo: White King, Red Rubber, Black Death (2003)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Congo: White King, Red Rubber, Black Death is a documentary film which premiered on British television (BBC) in 2003.

 

The topic is the history of Leopold II - King of the Belgians - and the Congo from 1885 to 1910.

 

The film shows how Leopold II acquired the Congo as his private property in 1885. He called it the Congo Free State.

 

Sadly, the state was not free.

 

He promised to bring civilization and economic development to the country.

 

Sadly, he did not do that.

 

Instead, he used and abused the Congo and the people of the Congo to enrich himself.

 

The film shows:

 

** How he plundered the national resources of the country (ivory and rubber), while the local population suffered.

 

** How he used his private army to punish anyone who failed to deliver requested products on time.

 

Here is some basic information about this film:

 

** Writer and director: Peter Bate

** Narrator: Nicholas Fraser

** Run time: 100 minutes

 

Several persons are interviewed in the film. Some appear several times, while others appear only once. Here are the names of the participants (listed in alphabetical order):

 

** Dirk Beirens – a tour guide in Belgium

** Guido Gryseels – Director, The Royal Museum for Central Africa, Brussels

** Jean Lokela Lompia – a man in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

** Professor Antoine Lumenganesco – Director, National Archives, DRC

** Professor Elikia M’Bokolo – Ecole des Hautes Etudes et Sciences Sociales, Paris

** Dr Maria Misra – a historian, Oxford University

** Pierre Monkooyi – a man in the DRC

** Marc Reynebeau – a historian

** Professor Daniel Vangroenweghe – a historian

** Father Honoré Vinck

 

Professor Elikia M’Bokolo functions as a host or presenter of the story.

 

He appears several times and each time in a new location. First we see him in Europe in locations which are somehow connected to the history of the Congo and later we see him in the Congo itself.

 

Several historical events have been re-constructed by actors, because footage of the old history is not available. Old photos are available and they are used to illustrate many occasions.

 

Reports about the horrible conditions in the Congo are read by an actor who sits in a chair facing another actor who is dressed to look like King Leopold II.

 

Reports quoted in the film come from missionaries, from soldiers and from other observers who lived in the Congo or who had access to first-hand information about this place. Here are five examples:

 

** Charles Banks – a British missionary

** Roger Casement (1864-1916) – born in Ireland – he had many lives: as a young man he worked in the Congo; later he became a British diplomat and finally an Irish nationalist

** E. D. Morel (1873-1924) – born in France, but lived and worked in the UK – first he was a shipping clerk; later he became a journalist and a human rights activist

** William Pickersgill – a British diplomat

** E. V. Sjöblom (1862-1903) – a Swedish missionary

 

The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is quoted more than once. The Polish-British writer Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) is the author of several novels.

 

The Heart of Darkness (perhaps his most famous novel) is a story about a voyage up the Congo River around 1890.

 

At first, it was a three-part story serialized in a magazine (1899). Later, it was published as a book (1902).

 

What do reviewers say about this film? Here are the results of three review aggregators:

 

65 percent = Meta

77 percent = IMDb

80 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the audience)

100 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the critics)

 

On Amazon, there are at the moment 75 global ratings and 38 global reviews. The average rating is 4.3 stars which corresponds to a rating of 86 percent.

 

As you can see, the ratings are quite good. They range from 65 to 100 percent.

 

When you look at Rotten Tomatoes, you can see that there is a clear difference between the professional critics and the general audience. The critics like it more than the audience.

 

This is a common phenomenon when we are talking about documentary films. It is a rare occasion when the general audience offers more than 80 percent for a documentary film.

 

Many reviewers explain that the story of King Leopold II and the Congo is horrible. You cannot enjoy watching this film. But at the same time, these reviewers insist that this story is important and deserves to be told. In this film, it is done very well.

 

In my opinion, the former ratings (Meta and IMDb) are too low, while the latter ratings are more appropriate. When I look at the ratings of Rotten Tomatoes, I have to side with the critics.

 

I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).

 

PS # 1. Leopold II (born 1835) was king of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909. He was the absolute ruler of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908. 

 

In 1908, the king's private property was transferred to the state and the Congo became a Belgian colony. Leopold died only one year later. Independence was proclaimed in 1960.

 

PS # 2. King Leopold’s Ghost is a documentary film which premiered in 2006. It is based on a book written by Adam Hochschild which was published in 1998.

 

It is divided into two parts: the first part covers the time from 1885 to 1908, while the second part covers the time from 1908 to 2005.

 

REFERENCES

 

** Red Rubber - King Leopold II’s Regime: The Belgian Slave Trade in the Congo over Twenty Years by E. D. Morel (first edition 1906, second edition 1919)

 

** Rood Rubber: Leopold II en zijn Congo by Daniel Vangroenweghe (1985) (this volume is only available in Dutch) (English translation of the title: Red Rubber: Leopold II and his Congo)

 

** The Ghost of Leopold II: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa by Adam Hochschild (first published 1998) (second edition with a new afterword 2005) (paperback 2019)

 

** European Atrocity, African Catastrophe: Leopold II, the Congo Free State and its Aftermath by Martin Evans (2002)

 

** Leopold II: Butcher of the Congo by Tod Olson (2008)

 

** Congo: The Epic History of a People by David Van Reybrouck (2014) (the original Dutch version was published in 2010) (this volume has been translated into several languages, including French and German)

 

*****

 

Roger Casement

(1864-1916)

*****

Red Rubber:

The Story of the Rubber

Slave Trade on the Congo

by Edmund Dene Morel

(1906)

*****