Les Statues Meurent Aussi
1953 / 30m - France
Documentary
1.0*/5.0*
Statues also Die poster

Watches

August 03, 2020

1.0*/5.0*

What starts as a short documentary on African art and culture becomes a call to do away with racism. It's a noble cause and it may have been a bit more mind-blowing back in the day, but a good 70 years later I think most of us will agree that a documentary like this didn't make the difference it hoped to make.

The first part of the documentary is presented like a more old-fashioned take on African culture, throughout the documentary new insights are added to the point where the narrator finally comes to his conclusion: black and white aren't that different from each other, no matter what some people have been claiming.

It could've been a smart setup to convince the naysayers, but the rambling and often cheesy narration, the godawful soundtrack and the short runtime don't really help to get the point across, and the road to this obvious conclusion feels too labored and random to make a big impression. At least the directors deserve credit for trying.