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Sadly Over-hyped

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The Plot.Two documentary filmmakers go back in time to the pre-Civil War American South, to film the slave trade.Dumb. eh? I watched this because of the many reviews saying it was so powerful and true. Well here's a dose of reality folks: it's part of the Mondo Cane Collection.Doesn't that sort of define what garbage this is going to be?And garbage it is.It's so bad, it's actually unwatchable.Horrible film work. Really bad vocal dubbing even tho the characters are actually speaking in English. And lots of stock footage taken from freaking Africa!. Say what? My God this movie is really a piece of junk propaganda exploitation.You've been warned. It sucks.

I can't believe I actually watched this entire movie. After having seen the ambitious yet controversial Africa Addio, I had a morbid interest in seeing this gem. WOW! There are too many words I can use to describe this brave and wanton achievement. Goodbye Uncle Tom is a historical tour de force that is offensive, shocking, bizarre, seditious, realistic, hilarious, outrageous and brilliant. All of this is achieved in a campy and carnival style of representation. Blaxploitation had hit the theaters at this time, but Jacopetti and Prosperi are truly due credit for bringing so much more depth to this genre than any other B-movie hack in history.Goodbye Uncle Tom Begins as a journey through early 19th century America during the height of the slave trades. The purpose is to glean as much information into the realities and issues revolving around slavery in a pseudo documentary format. It's a very ingenious idea and far exceeds the bland dramas like Amistad and Roots. So the film makers are traveling in time as the actors of that colonial era interact with each other for the camera. You will see and witness the opinions of historical figures as they give their views on slavery while interacting and subjugating the black slaves. It's easy to be disturbed by this film due to its brutally realistic portrayal of slavery and torture. I often wondered if this was meant for satire or indictment. It gets confusing, because with all of the sickness going on you can't help but laugh at the unabashed racial epithets. Is this meant to provoke laughter, shock? I think Jacopetti and Prosperi are combining elements of hyperbole, shock, brutality and tragedy in order to paint a grim picture.The film entails a stark contrast between whites and blacks. The people who were directly involved with the blacks were the oppressive, mean and callous slave traders and slave owners. Then we have the aristocrats who are completely detached from all this madness as they gallivant about in their beautiful Victorian attire looking pristine, beautiful and noble. They clearly illustrate the dichotomy between the civilized whites and the abject nature of the Negro slaves.Does all of this seem real? In an odd way it does. It looks very realistic despite its campy delivery. But Goodbye Uncle Tom is not only an indictment of slavery, its also an indictment of integration. These arguments are presented a couple times throughout the movie. One aristocrat mentioned, "I have no desire for the institution of slavery. I got rid of my slaves. They were foul, stinky and bothersome. So I set them free. I believe in freedom, but I don't believe in equality." This is a statement that sets the tone and resonates throughout the film as we are constantly questioning the purpose of importing slaves.Some detractors of this film dislike it for shallow and ad hominem reasons. They get offended by the content and its provocative delivery. These people fail to understand the message here. You cannot take such a controversial issue without offending someone. People are going to be shocked. 19th century America was hardly benevolent and this movie doesn't have to sugarcoat it's grisly reality. So deal with it and judge afterward.There is no way a movie like this could ever be made today and shown to the public. As we live in a world where political correctness corrupts our natural instincts and judgement, Goodbye Uncle Tom supersedes those constraints. This is why it is such a rare cinematic gem. If you can deal with all the scurrility, violence and grotesque imagery, goodbye Uncle Tom is a must see.

Goodbye, Uncle Tom is one of the Mondo films released in Italy in the seventies. I'm not a fan of this type of film and therefore I've only seen a handful of them - however, from my basic knowledge of the genre; this one is way above average and actually delivers a good film to go along with the numerous shocks. I have to be honest and say that the central theme doesn't really interest me. The film is basically an exploitation style documentary the American South prior to the civil war and primarily focuses on the slave trade. I don't know a great deal about this period of history and so I can't say how accurate this film is - but really it doesn't matter. While the film follows a documentary approach; that's really not the strongest element of Goodbye, Uncle Tom. The film, for me, is all about style and directors Franco Prosperi and Gualtiero Jacopetti lay this style on thick and it really works brilliantly. The music (excellent score by Riz Ortolani) and the cinematography are fascinating, and this is a real bona piece of seventies Spaghetti film-making.Films like this are generally designed to shock the viewer, and that is certainly the case here. The central theme allows for plenty of shocks and the most shocking scene on a visceral level is probably the rape sequence. However, the core of this film's ability to shock stems from the premise upwards and it's uncomfortable, especially in these times, to see how black people were once treated by their "masters". A scene in which a slave trader explains what his slaves are worth in the same way a cattle rancher might try and sell his stock, and why you cannot train an Indian to be a slave is the most shocking in this respect. It's hard to really rate the film alongside others in terms of acting and the script; but suffice to say, everything shown in the film is very realistic and it wouldn't be hard for an audience to believe that the film is taking place in pre-civil war America (if it weren't for the fact that film-making equipment was not invented back then, of course). Overall, Goodbye Uncle Tom is a great piece of exploitation that shocks, thrills and intrigues in equal measures. Highly recommended viewing.

Goodbye Uncle Tom, is an Italian film in Italian, with English subtitles. The film is a documentary from the makers of Mondo Cane (a documentary that showed a variety of bizarre things compiled into one film). The film deals with slavery and deals with what life was like back in the South, for the slaves before the Civil War. The film re-enacts several scenes of what the slaves went through and things that had happened during those years. The film is well directed and put together and is a very good looking film as well. I have seen the other films by the Mondo Cane filmmakers (Mondo Cane, Mondo Cane 2, and Africa Blood And Guts), and I have seen all but Women Of The World, and I can easily say that this one is my favourite film of theirs. The film's re-enactments look so realistic you often think you are watching actual videos from that time period. And some of the things that are filmed are sometimes so shocking and realistic you wonder how they were even filmed. The film is a lot better scripted, made and put together than the other films by the same directors I mentioned above. Not to say that those were not good films but this one is a really good film. It is compelling, fascinating and powerful film-making. The version I saw of the film was the director's cut which is almost ten minutes longer than the theatrical version. The film features a lot of disturbing scenes that may turn some viewers off but for those who are not easily offended and love documentaries then this is the film for you. Even though the film is over thirty years old I think it is as good as any of the great documentaries we have now such as Crumb, Bowling For Columbine or Tarnation. A really good film and a masterpiece of it's kind.