Addio zio Tom (1971)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Directors:

Gualtiero Jacopetti
Franco Prosperi

Writers:

Gualtiero Jacopetti (writer)
Franco Prosperi (writer)

Release Date:

30 September 1971 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

300 years of hate explode today!

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Fake Documentary | Rat | Exploitation | Girl Man Relationship | Racism

Cast

Gualtiero Jacopetti	...	Himself
Franco Prosperi	...	Himself

Also Known As:

Farewell Uncle Tom (Australia) (video box title)
Goodbye Uncle Tom (International: English title)
Uncle Tom (International: English title)
White Devil: Black Hell (USA) (X-rated version)
Zio Tom (Italy) (alternative title)

Runtime:

136 min | Australia:128 min | Canada:103 min (Québec) | UK:94 min | USA:123 min | Argentina:108 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:16 | UK:X (heavily cut) | USA:X (heavily cut) | Finland:K-18 (heavily cut) (1976) | Australia:R | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Italy:VM18 | Spain:18 | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Florida, USA

Company:

Euro International Film (EIA)

Trivia:

DECAMERONE NERO German Import DVD has a Super-8mm Version of "Goodbye Uncle Tom", (German Audio only) as a special feature on the disc.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Das geheime Kino (2007)

Italian Roots

Addio Zio Tom: 7/10: Well they don't make them like this anymore and lets face it they never really did. This is really three separate films brought together in a blender set on random. The first film is a highly effective expose on slave treatment and the slave trade in the old south (the slave ship scenes blows Hollywood fare like Armistad out of the water). Using a cast of thousands and exposing practices such as selective breeding that are politely not discussed on American shores (just ask Jimmy the Greek) it simply is one of the most realistic display's of 18th and 19th century slave life ever shown on film.

Then there is a second film which is a dated, and looking back rather silly collection, of news footage from the late sixties and early seventies that documents race riots with all the participants speaking in Italian creating an almost Woody Allen feel to the dub (It gives What's up Tiger Lilly a run for its money complete with ragtime music cementing the silliness of what should be serious proceedings.)

The last movie is a sexploitation film dealing largely with Mandingo fantasies and containing a copious amount of child porn. (I guess National Geographic rules apply when showing thirteen year old black children naked). Needless to say tasteful does not enter into the conversation. Political correctness is shattered so badly one must feel for those sensitive souls that can't laugh at ridiculousness of the manipulation.

Making matters worse the three films are intertwined together seemingly at random with comic buffoonery breaking out during serious scenes (A slave auction is apt to turn into a Benny Hill episode for no apparent reason) and poorly done black revenge fantasies coming, narratively at least, out of nowhere. Anti-white, anti-black and for the sake of inclusion anti-Semitic they once again simply don't make them like this anymore. (It's highly illegal for one thing)

Overlong by at least an hour and very poorly thought out in places Addio Zio Tom wears out its welcome but for a short while at least it exposes the truth and makes one think.