“Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat” by Director Johan Grimonprez

Release date; 22 January 2024

Length: 2h 30m

Review by Antony Cirocco, 30-05-2025

“Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat” by Director Johan Grimonprez, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in Jan 2024. It brings the slick world of mid-50s Jazz to the spy genre with a revolutionary feel in a way never seen before. Some of the key subjects in the film are Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Nikita Khrushchev, Walt Disney and Dwight Eisenhower. It’s a big budget archival film mostly comprising of 16mm news footage. In Australia you can see it on the docplay.  

"Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat", official movie poster

The film follows political events and scientific discoveries in relation to uranium and the atomic bomb. After the British and the Americans moved to lock in to Uranium in the Congo. The link to Jazz begins with Gillespie's musical tours of the “problem posts,” to quote Quincy Jones, Gillespie's tour manager, as they toured far-flung places like Iran and the Middle East. Eventually, this tour led him to the Congo. A time of African independence, and the first United Nations peacekeeping force was deployed to Egypt. Nina Simone makes an appearance, sent to Nigeria, sent secretly by the CIA., It’s an intriguing and dense documentary with many layers to delve into symbolically and in terms of espionage.

This film is a highly evolved form of documentary making, it’s reflexive, it’s archival, it’s poetic…it’s like jazz itself… It's a great watch and an even better listen.

Part thematic and part historical, the main storyline here drifts back and forth, stitching together stories from a time when African independence and intellectual emancipation was a part of the zeitgeist,  before African politics had solidified and settled. A swing away from colonialism and towards self-determination is a core theme throughout the documentary, more so in the first 3rd of the film. 

This film brings rhythm and melody to history and makes it engaging and entertaining. Whilst this might be seen as a spectacular representation of the factual elements of this story, it brings an otherwise dormant audience to the story in a way that is excusable, as the research is as thorough (references are quoted on screen in text) as the stylised edit and sound mix. 

The production quality of this work extends past the pixels. Most of the footage was shot with film cameras, it’s almost all analogue, creating a dream state for the audience, mostly black and white. The new interviews are shot in video of course and they hit you visually as a reminder that film is more genuine and format from a more beautiful era, that is more authentic and organic. 

Being a compilation of historical events, this is not fresh, but the way this reflexive documentary is woven together is, and it’s great viewing, it’s education, cool and vibrant to experience.

The Director of this film has to be applauded. The overwhelming archival footage that must have been sifted through to create a narrative must have been like staring up at a mountain peak. In the face of such a monumental task, Grimonprez doesn’t take the easiest path, there is a commitment shown here to stylised and rhythmic documentary storytelling that shows a level of sophistication not often seen in the Documentary form. The film is brilliant on that level. The instances of quotes that are referenced consistently throughout the film give the work a provenance that is undeniable. 

The rhythm and pacing of this long documentary is a credit to the Editor Rik Chaubet, the effort, nuance, and elegance of the edit here is a highlight of the film and will be what most people will remember about the film. Bravo! It’s no wonder this film was nominated for an Academy Award in 2024.

The Music however, is the true highlight here, it’s Jazz by the best proponents of the form in the 1950s and 1960s. The soundtrack never rests but it breathes with style, allowing a heightened listening experience accompanied by the archival footage and world-class edit. It’s really that good.

History tells us that these events took place, that’s not in question, but the way in which it is told could be brought into question. The overtly stylised pastiche of Jazz, war footage, arguments in the UN, and political speeches is at times almost overwhelming and too much sleight of hand. I hindsight thou, without the music, this would just be another forgettable political and historical documentary, dry and unengaging, thankfully… it’s not. 

There are many text cards on screen to show quotes from speeches, and newspaper reports etc, This demonstrates journalistic rigour and helps the audience weave their way through the many events that led up to the independence of the Congo. It shows the audience that all this stylised representation of history and the reflexive juxtaposition of archival and Jazz is indeed based in fact, and the audience should feel compelled to believe everything they see and hear.

The themes here of emancipation, justice, freedom and respect are evident in the unique voice the film takes on, it’s rooted in an African stance, whether it bee in the hearts and minds of those from the continent or those living in the USA, it’s a fresh look at history told in a way that has meaning for the intended audience and this is strength of the work and something that all emerging filmmakers can draw from.

The jazz symbolises the multiplicity of voices in Africa and the Middle East, the broad lexicon of languages, ideas, feelings, and intentions that made up the spirit of the times are enhanced by a musical genre that has lived past the events and the era.

The story telling tools at the disposal of the director and editor here, the music, the archival, the old photographs, the newsreels, the speeches, all tipped into a reflexive bucket to create the ultimate stimulation head space for the audience, that is in part a spy thriller, part political drama, part human character study and part tragedy all draw the audience into an excellent world of story, image and sound that is magnetic to watch.

This documentary is not news, but it is new in a sense, new in the way that this story is told. It’s sharp, witty, intelligent, dramatic and impactful. It’s brilliant!

The legacy of this film is the way in which the story is told, the direction and editing are first class, and young and emerging documentarians will look at this film and aspire to the way in which it was made and finished. It’s well worth your time 4.5/5 stars.

Review by Antony Cirocco

30/05/2025

Check out the trailer