Goodbye Uncle Tom (1971)
Addio zio Tom – 1971

Directors
Gualtiero Jacopetti
Franco Prosperi

Writers
Gualtiero Jacopetti
Franco Prosperi

Producers
Gualtiero Jacopetti producer
Franco Prosperi producer

Cast
Gualtiero Jacopetti
Franco Prosperi

Review by Sven Soetemans

Quite possibly the most shocking film you’ll ever see…,

Goodbye Uncle Tom is a downright jaw-dropping and surprisingly professional production in the Mondo Cane series. Terrifically shot documentary-style, this film explores the interaction between the races in modern America. Slavery, Black Rage, White Oppression…Jacopetti and Prosperi are all showing it uncensored and without mercy. It’s repulsive, shocking and the violence subtly get more under your skin as opposed to the average teenage horror slasher. The inhumanity of previous generations makes you bow your head in shame. Guided by a thrilling Riz Ortolani score (perhaps known best for his Cannibal Holocaust music).

Goodbye Uncle Tom shows how black people are being exploited, raped and killed for no reason other than being “inferior”. The films opens with a truly atmospheric portrait of how Martin Luther King’s death mobilized the black community. Right from that moment, you just know that you’re about to see a film that is a lot more intelligent than it seems and ahead of its time when it comes to being provocative. A history lesson that sticks to you! Of course, because of its realism, it cannot be recommended to everyone.

Goodbye Uncle Tom is better not watched by the faint-hearted.

Highly recommended piece of revolutionary cinema!