An ingenious exploration of the impact of American jazz figures of the time on a perhaps little-known historical episode of the Cold War, the coup d’état that involved the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, independence leader and first democratically elected prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo. A portrait that weaves a tapestry that unites historical personalities (from Khrushchev to Eisenhower) with unavoidable names in music such as Nina Simone, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie or Miriam Makeba.
Cold War, colonialism, jazz. Congo, Belgium, the United States and the Soviet Union. “Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat” is a mosaic of music and history, intricate in its narrative, but fluid like the swing of Louis Armstrong, elegant like the bebop of Dizzy Gillespie, intense like the rhythm of Max Roach, fiery like the soul of Nina Simone. At the center we find the murder of Patrice Lumumba, the charismatic leader of the Congo, hero of the country’s independence. Johan Grimonprez tells us about his rise and death, a journey that unfolds from hope to tragedy as the leaders of the Cold War move their pieces and the former occupying power maneuvers in its neo-colonialist ambitions. “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat” groups together on the same level the murder, the parallel stories and the music, American jazz, which “comments” on the narrative. Amidst the creative and political turmoil of the 1960s, inspired by Africa’s liberation from colonialism, music is the guide to everything we see, chorus of tragedy and agent in action. (Mário Lopes)
