Exploitation? Or Legitimate Social Commentary? ‘GOODBYE UNCLE TOM’ (1971) – 4K Ultra Review

Those nutty Italians! Not content with spearheading the cannibal sub-genre, they, in their endless quest to “out shock” each other with the “Mondo” films of the 70’s and 80’s by making morally reprehensible films, often sourced from historical accounts and intercut with newsreel footage, and disguised them as documentaries. Perhaps the most notorious of these (at least until the Americans co-opted the genre with the Faces of Death series) remains Goodbye Uncle Tom

Synopsis

Two documentary filmmakers go back in time to the pre-Civil War American South, to film the slave trade.

The film features the writing/directing team of Gualtiero Jacopetti (Mondo Candido) and Franco Prosperi (The Wild Beasts).

Famously touted as “the most disgusting, contemptuous insult to decency” by none other than Roger Ebert, Goodbye Uncle Tom is really two films. The Italian cut depicts scenes of a burgeoning race war following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, these were cut for the English release to build a more concise narrative on the plight and horrors of slavery in the pre-Civil War American  South. But Roots this ain’t.

With time traveling documentarians listening in on a deep South dinner party of the white elite, Goodbye Uncle Tom shifts into a frantic timeline: from slave ships, price negotiations, processing of newly arrived slaves, and then finally into the day-to-day horrors inflicted on the poor souls, the film makers never let the human condition get in the way of pure, unadulterated exploitation that the mondo genre was infamous for. Which is the purpose here, in my opinion. This gang of miscreants were banking on this film gaining as much notoriety as possible, because controversy sells!

A largely uncredited cast give performances ranging from over-the-top comical, to convincingly tortured, in a film that, surprisingly, boasts some high-end production values. Filmed mostly in Haiti, Jacopetti and Prosperi were treated as honored guests of brutal dictator Francios “Papa Doc” Duvalier and given almost unrestricted access to filming locations, government cars, weekly dinners with Duvalier, and unlimited extras (what? No voodoo??)—which goes a long way to explain why so many people were willing to parade around nude, in genuine looking squalor, in front of the camera.

As someone who is not what you’d call a “fan” of the mondo genre, I went into this both loved and reviled film with an open mind and open eyes (I initially questioned if I should review it). It is entertaining? On some levels, yes. Is it a legit documentary?? An emphatic “no.” I can see, to some degree, where mondo enthusiasts would consider it an important entry into the genre, but Goodbye Uncle Tom has a strange dichotomy at play—flipping easily from gritty testament to the horrors of slavery to a quasi-racist exploitative parody. Not a safe place to be for a filmmaker, which is most of the reason this film has such a reputation.

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, as the saying goes…

But, you’re asking, how is the release? Bill Lustig and the crew at Blue Underground really pulled out all of the stops on this one! Two 4K Ultra discs, one with the English (123 min) and one with the Italian (136 min) versions give you ample opportunity to decide the better version. The standard Blu-Ray disc contains a massive amount of extras—two feature length docs, interviews with Jacopetti & Prosperi, segments with film historians, galleries, behind the scenes footage with audio commentary—over 5 hours of stuff!

Also included is a CD of the film’s beautiful soundtrack from composer Riz Ortolani (Kill Bill Vol. 1). The double size box is wrapped in a handsomely embossed slipcover and features the Italian artwork on the flipside, with a collectible booklet containing a new essay on the film.

At times hard to watch, at other times surprisingly engaging, its easy to see why Goodbye Uncle Tom elicits such a strong reaction, both pro and con, 50+ years after it’s release. For fans of mondo, or the curious, you can’t do any better than this edition. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you…

Blue Underground’s 4K Ultra Blu-ray collection of Goodbye Uncle Tom is available now from fine retailers.