Review of Soul Power (2009) by Andrew B — 28 Jul 2009
Zaire â??74 the subject of this documentary was a three day music festival held in Kinshasa some weeks before the famous â??Rumble in the Jungleâ?? when Ali regained his title.
The festival combined the best of American soul with an eclectic mix of music from across the African continent.
The film is a bit slow to start to be honest, with a long lead up to the actual concert. But it is worth the wait.
Outside of the concert the film frankly is not all that interesting, aside from when Ali is on screen (his wit never fails). George Foreman is entirely absent. The film also fails to explore the political context; other than showing one poster of Mboto and a rather disturbing scene of primary school children drilling one would have no idea this was all happening under a dodgy regime.
Despite all this the film is worth seeing for the concert. The performances are brilliant. One slight quibble is that the performers are not identified until the end credits. I did not know some on sight and I have a reasonably good and wide musical knowledge. Might have been better to have quick captions when they were introduced.
If you do watch this then hang on right to the end of the credits; itâ??s definitely worth it.
GFT 290709.
This review of Soul Power (2009) was written by Andrew B on 28 Jul 2009.
Soul Power has generally received positive reviews.
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