Search - Hommage A Noir on DVD

Colonialism Redux

PM | Los Angeles, California | 04/10/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This film is not a documentary, but one German filmmaker's visual montage of "those strange, exotic beings" that inhabit Africa (actually just one small corner of Africa, the country of Cameroon). Schmerberg, as director, places his "subjects" on display (turning 'round on a lazy susan), throws candy at the children to animate them, directs the men to look fierce as they slowly pull their blades from their sheaths, etc., etc. "Hommage a Noir" is in some respects visually stunning, and the music is interesting in its own right (though *utterly* disconnected to its subject). But it is also offensive in it's stereotypical rendering of a foreign place and its inhabitants. Do not get this film if you expect anything close to documentary. And be prepared for a film that is as much indignity as it is homage."