Concerning Violence

Concerning Violence is a profound and gripping 2014 documentary that pierces through the heart of colonialism and its enduring impacts on Africa. What truly sets this movie apart is its incorporation of a philosophical element that draws upon the scholarly works of Frantz Fanon (1925-1961), a Martinique-born Afro-Caribbean psychiatrist, philosopher, revolutionary, and writer, best known for his works on decolonization. His influential book "The Wretched of the Earth" provides an ideological basis for the film’s narrative.

Swedish director Göran Olsson delivers a narrative threading historical footage with thought-provoking viewpoints, offering an unfiltered look at the liberation struggles of African countries during the mid-to-late 20th century. The movie presents a series of nine vignettes, each reflecting a different aspect of Fanon's discourse on colonialism and all voicing a collective message of resistance and liberation.

The documentary's narration is carried by Grammy-Award winning artist Lauryn Hill, whose compelling voice adds substance and emotive depth to the narrative. The power of her delivery allows the audience to meaningfully engage with Fanon's revolutionary thoughts.

Plotting the narrative are vintage clips of revolutions and liberation movements from the 1960s and 1970s – captured by Swedish filmmakers and photographers who travelled through Angola, Liberia, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau, Burkina Faso, and Tanzania during this period. The filmmakers intended to portray the harsh realities of life under colonial rule and the subsequent fight for independence.

These scenes with their raw drama, desperation, courage, and determination depict not just a historical recounting, but offer a neocolonial mirror to the current state of Africa. The footage, showing everything from women fighters in Guinea-Bissau to Swedish mining in Burkina Faso, provide a stark portrayal of racial inequalities, exploitation, and the sheer violence that marked the continent's struggle for agency.

But the central ideas of Concerning Violence are propelled by Fanon's writings which Hill revisits with intent and intensity. Fanon's vehement rejection of colonialism situates it as a destructive force that dehumanizes the colonized while stripping them of their culture, resources, identity, and even their psychological stability. He espouses the need for violent resistance as a path to liberation and self-determination to counter systemic oppression.

Between these scenes of intense ground-reality, personal accounts, interviews, and strikes, the film also spares some scenes for interviews with influential figures such as Oliver Tambo who was a prominent anti-apartheid activist and a key figure of the African National Congress. Equally compelling are moments spent exploring the travesties of natural resource exploitation inflicted on the continent by outside entities.

Embodying a supporting role in the film is Kati Outinen, an eminent Finnish actress whose part ingeniously complements the intensity of Hill's narration. Another voice in the film is that of renowned scholar Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, who contributes her scholarly insight into the conversation surrounding post-colonialism.

As a documentary, Concerning Violence serves an exploratory function, educating audiences about the breadth and depth of colonial impacts that still reverberate through Africa. Its narration lays bare the brutal and dehumanizing aspects of colonialism and further propels contemplation on how colonial legacies continue to shape Africa's socio-economic realities.

On the whole, Concerning Violence is a scathing critique of colonialism, a bold reflection on liberation struggles, and an intense exploration of racial and economic inequities that have shaped the continent. Its philosophical underpinnings, combined with riveting historical footage, provide a bold testament to the enduring strength and spirit of Africa. Sharp and sobering in its narrative, and profound in its examination of the psychology of colonialism, the documentary stands as a powerful declaration: colonialism is not only a concern of the past, but confronts our present, too.