White King, Red Rubber, Black Death

Name: White King, Red Rubber, Black Death
Genre: History, Documentary
Released: October 21, 2005
Duration: 84 min
Rating: 65

2005

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Generally favorable reviews based on 9 Critic Reviews

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Movie Details & Credits

ArtMattan Productions | Release Date: October 21, 2005

Summary: This documentary is the true, astonishing story of what King Leopold II did in the Congo. (ArtMattan Productions)

Director: Peter Bate

Genre(s): History, Documentary

Runtime: 84 min

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Critic Reviews

TV Guide Magazine Maitland McDonagh

British documentarian Peter Bate frames a mix of archival materials and re-creations with a "trial" at which Leopold listens to testimony against him from within a wood-and-glass booth, like Nazi Adolf Eichmann at Nuremberg. Read full review

Robert Koehler

A stunning indictment of Belgium's brutal colonization of the Congo in the late 19th century, Brit documaker Peter Bate's White King, Red Rubber, Black Death illustrates how European exploitation in Africa caused irreparable damage to the continent. Read full review

Andrea Gronvall

Dramatization is often a questionable tactic in documentaries, but by picturing Leopold (Elie Larson) on trial like Adolf Eichmann, Peter Bate adroitly compares the colonial genocide to the Holocaust. Read full review

Elizabeth Weitzman

Unfortunately, Bate saddles his otherwise compelling chronicle with awkward re-creations and an aggressively overbearing narration. Read full review

V.A. Musetto

Bate is to be congratulated for reminding the world of Leopold's wickedness, even if he does OD on re-enactments. Read full review

Manohla Dargis

Although too compressed by half, the film manages to recreate what, at one point, the hectoring narrator will call an "archaeology of repression." Read full review

Nathan Rabin

Regrettably, Bate uses many of the tools of tabloid television in making his case, including heavy-handed reenactments, an ominous, sinister score, and overly dramatic narration delivered in a voice shaking with outrage. Read full review

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MovieGuys

Mar 27, 2014

White King, Red Rubber, Black Death is a very accurate, organized documentary on the Belgian agendas in the Congo, and why rubber was such a valuable asset to their economy. It manages to tell the story from the oppressed side's point of view, most of the time, a side not looked at in theseWhite King, Red Rubber, Black Death is a very accurate, organized documentary on the Belgian agendas in the Congo, and why rubber was such a valuable asset to their economy. It manages to tell the story from the oppressed side's point of view, most of the time, a side not looked at in these kind of documentaries.… Expand

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