Review of Mandingo (1975) by Steve C — 12 Dec 2009
It's a difficult thing, trying to make sense out of Mandingo. Is it really as racist as it seems to be?
There are some pretty shocking scenes in the film, to be sure. I mean, let's face it, it opens with a long line of slaves being examined by a prospective buyer. The plantation owner has one of the slaves pull down his pants and bend over so he can inspect him for hemmorhoids. I can't imagine filming that scene. But it just gets worse, as the owners of this particular plantation aren't exactly the nicest bunch of white folks you ever met. They beat their slaves mercilessly, rape the women, train others to fight to the death, and devise various other methods of torture for whatever transgressions may come about.
It's easy to imagine that the defenders of the film would call out its detractors for not interpreting the film correctly. A quick glance at reviews online brings up repeated references to Schindler's List, a brutal and disturbing movie set during the Holocaust. Both films, it could be argued, show the situation of the day in a realistic light... and that is probably true. In that era of American history, slavery was common and it is undeniable that many slaves were treated extremely poorly. But is realism alone enough to praise the film?
No, of course not. Even if the movie isn't as racist as it seems to be, it is not a very good movie. There are scenes with an accompanying score that is jarring and does not match the action on-screen. The plot goes in different directions without much concern for whether anything is important. One of the slaves is supposed to have been teaching the others to read, but this process is never shown. Just, suddenly, another one of the slaves can read. And then at the end of the movie, because of the attempt at putting aside bias, there is no sense of closure. It wants its viewers to have a strong reaction to the climax - not just because of its graphic nature - but because it had previously tried to keep an objective eye on the situation, the ending comes off as either unaffecting or else one more stab of racism before the credits roll.
More than anything, though, I am annoyed with Mandingo for being so damn smug. It welcomes bad reviews because it thinks it's better than it is.
It is not.
This review of Mandingo (1975) was written by Steve C on 12 Dec 2009.
Mandingo has generally received positive reviews.
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