Cert - 12

Run-time - 2 hours 30 minutes

Director - Johan Grimonprez

Documentary examining the influence of and for jazz in relation to the decolonisation of Africa and the geopolitical response in the 1950s and 60s.

The spirit of jazz permeates into every frame of Johan Grimonprez's Soundtrack To A Coup d'Etat. Matching the score which bounces from start to finish Grimonprez and editor Rik Chaubet give the documentary an unrelenting pace which only slightly slows down in the final hour to make way for the more serious edges to properly come through. For much of the two-and-a-half-hour run-time the film barrels through the geopolitical tensions of the 50s and 60s, with a specific focus on the world's responses to a decolonised Africa.

Yet, even that feels like a poor description of what the documentary covers. Running through the cold war, racial tensions in America and a shaken UN everything is viewed through the lens of the influence of and for jazz music at the time a grand portrait of the era is created, particularly regarding race relations in the eye of politics and music. There's a free-wheeling nature to what's covered, matching the music at the core, but never does the film feel unfocused or overstuffed. Everything links as seamlessly as one moment of the score to the next.

A score which parallels the events and effects that are being detailed on-screen by lifting them and in return being enhanced in meaning and further effect. At the time jazz became something of a tool, although with its own additional messages in the wake of this - artists such as Louis Armstrong and Nina Simone were flown around the world to show a healthier portrait of segregated Americas actions in, or views towards, other countries.

With just how much is detailed over the course of the run-time, Soundtrack To A Coup d'Etat is something of an undefinable film, and not in a negative way. Even the plot synopsis I've written at the top of this review seems wrong, and somewhat reductive. The first hour, or perhaps even half hour, is packed with so much that other documentaries could spin a whole film from just one point. With the pace of the film refusing to slow down for a breather it can get exhausting on a couple of occasions, but there's a determination in keeping that pace consistent and lifting the film in tandem with the music which underpins everything.

More serious points in the final hour, surrounding the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the events following around the world, particularly in regards to the UN, are handled well within the shape of the execution and still manage to bring out a sense of enjoyment while making sure to not be undermined by the surrounding style. As a whole this is a highly enjoyable documentary that knows exactly how it wants to demonstrate its plethora of points and does so with a great deal of success.

Four stars