Ohhh this one effected me in profound and unpleasent ways. I had first heard of ‘Goodbye Uncle Tom’ from a friend ‘G.G Graham’ many years ago as one of the most distasteful ‘mondo’ entries ever put to film. Naturally, this peaked my curiosity and a year or so back, Blue Underground put the DVD on sale ahead of a 4k re-release. it was literally a couple of bucks. So I figured it was worth a punt…I wasnt fully prepared for what lay ahead.

Theres no real way to dress this film up. The plot revolves around two itallian journalists who, via the power of a helecopter, manage to time travel back to the peak of the slave trade in the American South. and what follows is essentially two journalists from the 70s interviewing and investigating the slave trade in all its facets. they follow the slavers who captured black people in Africa and drove them to American shores by boat, they follow the processors who transfer the slaves from boats to camps for examination, decontamination and eventual branding and sales, and from there we follow the many different ‘professions’ that slaves could be sold into, from Cotton picking, to brothel work, to helping process and control other slaves.

And when I say ‘they investigate the slave trade’ this isnt a light touch overview of slavery in America. What is shown here in unflinching detail is the absolute worst abhorrences to occur during the time of Slavery in America. From slaves having their teeth chipped off so they could be force fed food to stop them starving themselves to death, to Slaves being castrated to stop them from reproducing, to the horrors of masters removing limbs of their slaves to stop them doing things they dont want them to do, to the horrific sights of a Slave ‘breeding’ camp where 13 year old virgins are basically thrown to ‘studs’ for mating purposes.

They do not miss a single second of showing the absolute horrors of this time period, and the horrendous people who enabled it. And while there is some arguement that what is shown here is dramatized somewhat for shock, its NOT disputed that these events DID happen and WERE fairly commonplace. Put it this way, this film *could* and HAS been used to teach about the slave trade in schools, its only flaw in accuracy is that it seems to show the absolute worst elements of the trade almost as a supercut, when in reality incidents like this (while common) wernt an every day occurance.

So you’d think an unflinching documentary about the slave trade would be a must see, especially in a time when immigration is such a hot button issue, you’d think progressives would be lining up round the block to promote this film as something folks need to see to understand why we cant go back to the days of ‘funny farms’, ‘concentration camps’ and ‘slavery’…But…there in lies my complex feelings about this film.

Because the director and writer for the film were both kind of racist. The entire reason they made this film was because, at this point in the 70s, the Black Panther movement had just gotten into full swing and there had been a spate of attacks on white people by Black people who had had enough of white supremacists and wanted equality and reparation for the enslavements.

That motivation taints this film quite considerably. With several moments of clearly racist stereotyping such as the appearence of sterotypical racist charicatures of ‘Mammy’ and ‘Uncle Tom’ figures at multiple points in the film, an ending, which implies that Black people are being indoctrinated into believing all white people are evil, and its only a matter of time before they strike, and probably the most unforgivable element of this film (and that is saying something!) The fact that the entire black cast for this film (we are talking HUNDREDS of people) were made up of impoverished Hatians who were paid basically no money to be stripped naked, corraled and faux tortured on camera for 99% of the films runtime. The choice being to let the film makers terrorize them for barely enough money for a meal a day (or less) or they die of poverty on a roadside somewhere. They used these peoples kids in this film, some of them were literal newborn babies… for a significant portion of the runtime.

And that for me, is where the complexity of this film lies, Arguably one of the most unflinching and faithful depictions of the slave trade in the 19th century…made, by an enslaved cast of non actors…forced into the job by racists, with the alternative being almost certain death. I can only really voice my feelings on this, but It could have been the greatest film ever made, and that wouldnt have justified the actions of the film makers here. Its sick. Sick in the kind of way that leaves a mental scar in not only myself, but many other people who I know have seen this.

And…I dont really know how to ratify theses two points honestly…Part of me thinks that, similar to my opinions on ‘Cannibal Holocaust’, you cant really undo or take back the damage that was done by making this film the way it was made. So you might as well try to use it as a tool for good in the world BY showing it, in context, as part of discussions about the slave trade. However, part of me also feels that by in talking about or showing this film at all, your re-enabling the suffering not only of the people who were forced into BEING in this film, but disrespecting the memories of so many people who died in the slave trade, who almost certainly wouldnt have wanted to have seen the harsh legacy their cruel involvers depicted by folks who were forced into taking part…

I feel like the ethics and morals of this production are pretty clean cut as abhorrent, but whether IT as a work should be praised or derided, I feel is a step above my paygrade and more the field for philosophy and ethics students, rather than me, a goofy guy on the internet who likes talking about the art behind movies.

What I can do, is speak about this film from an artistic standpoint. And my opinion is that, this film ACTUALLY made me feel something, it made me feel sick, it made me feel uncomfortable. Since watching it, its already sparked at least a couple of healthy discussions with my peers. Its a technically incredible work with creative direction, an interesting method of bringing this world alive and some quite beautiful and quite sickening cinematography and scoring choices. I can find the work Abhorrent, I can find it mezmorising as a piece, But I cant deny that, as a work? It is ‘art’ it moved me, and changed my perception of that period of time quite distinctly.

This is probably one of the most mean spirited and unpleasent films i’ve ever seen, but at the same time, the film makers feelings are laid bare for the audience to process, their views may be wrong, but I almost feel like it needed a racist to make a film about racism in this instance, someone who wasnt likely to wilt away from the atrocities that took place during this time, and someone who felt comfortable being immersed in racist language and ways of thinking. I 100% disagree with there final scene ‘assessment’ of the current state of play. And I find that final 10 minute shift in the narrative to be jarring and against the rest of the movie. But I think they handled this topic in a way that had never, and likely WILL never be handled this way again.

My final thoughts? I think people should at least try to experience this film at least once. I think it should have a more academic reputation than it currently does have, I think knowing its context is important going into the film as it definitely alters the perception of what the film is trying to present. Like ‘I spit on your Grave’, ‘Salo’ and ‘Cannibal Holocaust’ this film is a sharp shock to the system, but its so much more than the shock it presents. and I feel taking this film on at the level it wants you to engage with it on, rather than immediately dismissing it as disgusting schlock that should have been banned. Is probably the best way to take this film on.

I’d suggest a group setting so discussions can be had. But, if you can find ANYONE willing to share a viewing space with you while this films playing…well…please let me know in the comments how that worked out.

I dont regret watching this…I just didnt quite know what I was getting into…

Edit – I should add, if you are interested in an explanation of this film from a more historical standing, the below link may be of interest.

jimcrowmuseum.ferris.edu/question/2010/august.htm

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/goodbye-uncle-tom/