Terres brûlées (1934) – dir. Charles Dekeukeleire *

55 mins., b&w, sound – voice-over commentary in French, extra-diegetic music

This film was made by one of the leading figures of documentary filmmaking in Belgium of the period. It follows a heavy truck across the Sahara Desert and into the tropical forest of the Belgian Congo, recording the effects of Belgian colonization as well as traditional custom. An extract is viewable here.

While the cinematography is exquisite, the voice-over commentary is painfully colonialist and the extradiegetic music now seems ridiculous.

© 2018 Paul Henley