Exploitation December - The Black Gestapo (1975)

The Blaxploitation sub-genre of film flourished for such a short period of time, starting in 1971 with Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song and petering out as the decade ended. The term itself was coined by the NAACP, to criticize movies that the organization saw as pandering to racial stereotypes; later the term was incorporated in film discourse in a less pejorative sense. While the films generally do indulge in stereotypes, this has much to do with their reflection of the cutlure of the time and the need to speak to audiences in terms that they would find popular, identifiable and willing to pay for. While most were crime thrillers (including films like the Shaft trilogy, Across 110th Street and Pam Grier's revenge films; e.g., Foxy Brown and Coffy) there were also horror movies (Blacula, Sugar Hill) Kung Fu movies (Black Belt Jone), historical trash-dramas (Mandingo) and even an animated film, Ralph Bakshi's Coonskin. They were known for having black protagonists, largely black casts, and usually a gritty, urban setting. They also often had black creative teams, something that was groundbreaking in the American film industry. As the Seventies ended, many of these ingredients were incorporated into more "mainstream" films like New Jack City (1991) and Blood and Bone (2009) eventually spawning homages, like Tarantino's Jackie Brown (1997) and the hilarious parody, Black Dynamite (2009)

Not exactly subtle, is it?

Black Gestapo fits into an interesting spot in the genre. It has an overt political message told within the structure of a crime drama. While hampered by a low budget and a cast that is more enthusiastic than professional, the movie is watchable and worth seeking out.

The film takes place in Los Angeles. White mobsters are preying on the black community. A group of khaki clad, red beret wearing black activists organizes the People's Army (led by General Ahmed (Rod Perry)) to push white criminals out of their community. Ahmed advocates a peaceful, community building approach. His second-in-command, Colonel Kojah (Charles Robinson), wants to take more direct action to combat crime and secure power. He forms his own group of thugs within the People's Army, turning them into little more than another gang. They succeed in pushing out the white criminals, but then take over the drugs, prostitution and protection rackets. General Ahmed and Colonel Kojah eventually come to blows, with Ahmed trying to maintain the People's Army as a peaceful agent of change and Kojah preaching race war to his fanatical followers. In a finale that wold not be out of place in an episode of The A-Team of Macgyver, Ahmed infiltrates and decimates Kojah's men with the help of a bag of guns and gadgets. The End.

The Black Gestapo is pretty entertaining. The white mobsters are so evil - a collection of violent, racist thugs - that when they get their comeuppance (including a castration for a rapist) it is satisfying for the audience. The action is pretty well done with decent fight choreography and camerawork. The cast overplays their roles and the characters are little more than caricatures and archetypes. Usually, this is okay in an exploitation film; however, it does detract from the more serious themes of the story, which is really what sets The Black Gestapo apart from it's peers. Yes, there are a lot of boobs (including one of my favorite babes from the Seventies, Uschi Digard) and blood; but there is also an attempt to tell a story with some depth.

I'll take any opportunity to post an image of Uschi Digard.

The story examines the old adage that "power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely." Both Ahmed and Kojah initially have a similar goal; the protection of black community. However, the paths they take are very different. Kojah, raises an army of loyal followers (who have assemblies where he gives rambling speeches while sounds from a Nazi rally play on the soundtrack; this is a message movie, not a subtle message movie) who are successful in pushing the white mob out. They speak the language of violence fluently, something that Ahmed, with his drug rehab clinics and food banks, does not embrace until the end and then only because Kojah tries to have him killed. Kojah quickly grows accustomed to power and wants more. Within a scene or two of forming his first "security squad" he's ready to take over the protection racket in the black community. His ultimate turn to decadence is shown when Ahmed visits his compound (you can tell it's a compound because it has a tennis court and armed guards, hallmarks of compounds everywhere). Kojah is indulging himself with booze and women...including white women. Yep, Kojah has turned his back on black womanhood. Ahmed, meanwhile, is still running his community outreach programs (although all we see is a single free clinic). His girlfriend is a black nurse and he is not interested in traditional power, wanting to create a self-sustaining community, in which drugs, prostitution and criminals - black and white - won't be tolerated. However, he has his own problems. Ahmed makes the point that the People's Army depends on "white money" to function (a grant of some sort). Later, it becomes clear that Kojah has been funneling at least some of the money from the protection racket to the more peaceful aspects of the People's Army. And, in the end, Ahmed has to turn to violence to neutralize the threat of Kojah.

The other overarching theme is an examination of two strategies (violent confrontation and community building) being advocated in the black community (and, really, in all minority communities) when faced with a majority (in this case, white) community that, at best, ignore them (when someone brings up the idea of going to the police about crime, this is scoffed at since the police "ignore" their duty to the black community) and, at worst, exploit and oppress them. Interestingly, neither strategy is found to be satisfactory. The violent approach followed by Kojah leads to corruption and delusion (he gives a speech about raising an army and attacking White American for "vengeance"). The more peaceful approach advocated by Ahmed fails to address both the challenge from Kojah and the violence of the white gangsters/majority community. He can't even get funding for his projects without either turning to "white money" or Kojah. It's a pretty bleak, cynical look at race relations and efforts by the black community to address the imbalance of power vis-a-vis white American society.

Black. Nazis. Riiiiight...

Even though the film tries to tell a story with some depth, there are problems. In addition to the acting, the film has a cheap, murky look to it. Night scenes are poorly lit, to the point that it is often difficult to follow what is happening. Much of the film is presented in master shots, although there are a few attempts to create dynamic images. The Nazi symbolism is heavy handed and out of place. The over dubbing of "Sieg Heil" on the soundtrack during Kojah's rallies, an early fade from a speech being given by Ahmed (in which he says "Martin Luther King had a dream....and it was blasted into eternity with him!") to newsreel footage of marching Nazis and a grinning Hitler and the decision by Kojah to clad his troops in black uniforms, complete with SS hats for the officers are all ham-fisted and unnecessary. The adoption of Nazi regalia, is the most out-of-place thing in the movie. Kojah never expresses any admiration for Hitler and it is strange that a black militant would use the uniform of one of the most racist groups in the 20th Century. Finally, a lot of time - too much - is spent with the white mobsters. They are all repellent - which is okay, since they are the villains - but also, the scenes with them are repetitious and not very interesting. A few scenes to establish who they are and how they operate is really all that is needed. More screen time for the main protagonist (Ahmed) and antagonist (Kojah) to develop their characters would have been welcome.

The Black Gestapo is worth seeking out. Even with the numerous problems cited, it does have a decent pace, a good amount of exploitation elements (boobs and blood) and tries to tell a story with some depth and thematic complexity. Oh, and Uschi's boobs...it has Uschi's boobs...