MIFF NOTES: Concerning Violence (2013, Dir. Göran Olsson)

Rich, disturbing, unapologetically academic, Göran Olsson's Concerning Violence is a blistering manifesto, drawn from the writings of Frantz Fanon, which posits that the only way to take down the insidious brutality of colonialism is by meeting it with similarly brutal violence.

Olsson doesn't need to do much persuading. I'm sure we are all really nice one on one but, white people, as a collective, historically, we've been pretty fucked and Olsson throws our past back in our faces. He overlays Fanon's poetic polemic on nine decolonization struggles of the '50s and '60s using contemporary footage and disturbingly forthright interviews. The images are mind-burning, the words sickening, and their potency hasn't lessened with distance.

Fanon's intent, and Olsson's invocation of it, also burns just as intensely. Concerning Violence sets the ideas on the screen simply. Fanon's words are read by Lauryn Hill. Fanon's words filter across the screen in large white type. Fanon's words are illustrated with juxtaposed imagery and the ideas are left to encroach into our current experience. Though the major colonising powers have disbanded for the most part, the brunt of their force is still being felt throughout the developing world via the capitalist conglomerate corporations determined to pull the worth out of the earth for the profit of the few at the expense of the many.

A dark cinematic essay, which is unfortunately, still very timely.

★★★★☆

Trailer:

Disclaimer: Due to excessive work and excessive film going, MIFF posts are going to be pretty sketchy this year. I'll come back to some of the better ones and write them up proper-like if the mood takes.