Concerning Violence

This past weekend I watched Concerning Violence, based on work by Frantz Fanon and directed by Göran Olsson. The film does a tremendous job showcasing how painful of a process decolonization can be and how decolonization will almost always necessitate violence. The film utilized archived footage from the 1960s and 70s that cataloged the liberation of several North African countries from the European colonial powers.

 The film opened with an interesting series of shots that showed European soldiers in a helicopter hovering over, and shooting wildlife in the plains. This scene was the only one in the movie to not portray the relationship (or its effects) between the imperialist settlers and the African natives. After landing the helicopter, one soldier continually shoots one dying animal, with the camera zooming on its dying face. Capturing the animal’s final waking moments followed by dripping blood from the mouth and nose was not done solely for the gore or shock factor; it was presented as abstract symbolism for the intense violence that the audience would soon witness.

One of the most powerful shots used by Olsson was a high shot of African villagers marching towards the camera marching, singing, and clapping in some sort of protest. This stable shot allowed the audience to understand how large the group was. As members walked up to and past the camera, the camera spun and “marched” with the rest of the group. This camerawork made the audience feel more unified with the marching villagers.

Olsson's most interesting use of sound was when a group of women were shown beating corn with sticks. There were four women each taking turns, a very communal activity. As the process went on, the sound of drumming was coordinated with the corn-beating. This sound led to another scene depicting drumming, singing and dancing, another communal activity.

It was interesting to see the shots that Olsson chose to use for the documentary because he was not able to shoot new footage; he strictly used archived footage and edited it in a particular fashion.