We return with a look at Soul Power, enjoy!
From Masters of Cinema:
Soul Power is a vérité documentary – compiled entirely from footage shot in 1974 – of the astonishing back-to-Africa 3-day music festival “Zaire ‘74”. It was held in Kinshasa ahead of the biggest boxing event of all time: the Muhammad Ali–George Foreman “Rumble in the Jungle”. Directed by Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, editor of Leon Gast’s Oscar®-winning (Best Documentary) When We Were Kings, and sourced from the same archival pool, Soul Power features a legendary line-up of African and African-diaspora musicians – all of whom are at the very peak of their creative powers.
Alongside Ali’s wit and wisdom – profoundly lyrical in its own right – vibrant street scenes of downtown Kinshasa, and “fly-on-the-wall” footage of the festival’s staging, rehearsals, and jams, the three nights of concerts (lensed by Albert Maysles and a host of other legendary cameramen) offer electrifying performances by James Brown,...
From Masters of Cinema:
Soul Power is a vérité documentary – compiled entirely from footage shot in 1974 – of the astonishing back-to-Africa 3-day music festival “Zaire ‘74”. It was held in Kinshasa ahead of the biggest boxing event of all time: the Muhammad Ali–George Foreman “Rumble in the Jungle”. Directed by Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, editor of Leon Gast’s Oscar®-winning (Best Documentary) When We Were Kings, and sourced from the same archival pool, Soul Power features a legendary line-up of African and African-diaspora musicians – all of whom are at the very peak of their creative powers.
Alongside Ali’s wit and wisdom – profoundly lyrical in its own right – vibrant street scenes of downtown Kinshasa, and “fly-on-the-wall” footage of the festival’s staging, rehearsals, and jams, the three nights of concerts (lensed by Albert Maysles and a host of other legendary cameramen) offer electrifying performances by James Brown,...
- 7/22/2016
- by Tom Jennings
- CriterionCast
Chicago – What can you say about a documentary that lands in theaters thirty-five years too late? “Soul Power” consists of footage from the historic three-night music festival in Zaire, meant to coincide with the heavily hyped “Rumble in the Jungle” between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. The events took place in 1974, and were filmed in order to spread African culture to the masses.
Footage from the epic match was assembled into 1996’s Oscar-winning documentary, “When We Were Kings,” which was a vital historical record that didn’t devote enough of its screen time to the actual fight. “Kings” editor Jeffrey Levy-Hinte took the directorial reigns of “Soul Power,” another vital historical record that doesn’t devote enough screen time to its central subject: the actual concert. But the music it does include is so good that it makes the film essential viewing regardless of its shortcomings.
Blu-Ray Rating: 3.5/5.0
To his credit,...
Footage from the epic match was assembled into 1996’s Oscar-winning documentary, “When We Were Kings,” which was a vital historical record that didn’t devote enough of its screen time to the actual fight. “Kings” editor Jeffrey Levy-Hinte took the directorial reigns of “Soul Power,” another vital historical record that doesn’t devote enough screen time to its central subject: the actual concert. But the music it does include is so good that it makes the film essential viewing regardless of its shortcomings.
Blu-Ray Rating: 3.5/5.0
To his credit,...
- 1/29/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
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