Jacques Sarasin's On the Rumba River

Jacques Sarasin's On the Rumba River is a beautiful, albeit, rambling film exploring Wendo Kolosoy's life, Congolese rumba, and displaying the beauty of human life as well as the majestic Congo river. For someone who has seen little of contemporary Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, nothing prepares one for the lush beauty yet haunting depravity of the slums depicted in the film. Despite the incredible poverty and depressing situations these older Congolese rumba musicians from the 1940s and 1950s find themselves in as impoverished, their beautiful music, which brings together people through dance, shows the ingenious and creative will to live of the Congolese people.

The genre, Congolese "rumba," is arose during the colonial period when records and radio stations played music derived from Afro-Caribbean sources in Cuba, as well as beguine music from Martinique. In addition to incorporating Afro-Cuban rhythms (ultimately from Central and West Africa themselves) and instruments associated with Cuban music, especially the guitar, local instruments and playing styles remained an ever-present influence. Indeed, the likembe, or thumb piano, is played by a fellow old timer musician from Brazzaville across the Congo river in the Republic of Congo. Indeed, the heartfelt reunion between Wendo and Moundanda in the film at the harbor not only displays the beauty of the Congo river, the wonders of reunion with old friends and acquaintances, but the problems of Kinshasa, the DRC's gigantic, but poorly administered capital city. Indeed, Kinshasa, the largest officially Francophone city in the world, is poorly served by the Congolese government, something Wendo alludes to at the film's conclusion when commenting on the state of disrepair of the ships along the Congo and the train system due to government corruption, greed, and self-interest.

Anywho, the film focuses on Wendo and fellow older, out of work musicians recording and playing music for fun in what appears to be a slum of Kinshasa. One's heart goes out for the people behind the beautiful music, played expertly by mostly elderly men (trumpet, saxophone, guitars, drums, clave, etc). It has been compared to Buena Vista Social Club since the film depicts the lives of wizened musicians recreating the popular music of the 1940s and 1950s, a time when their music was popular in the bars and nightclubs of Brazzaville and Kinshasa, when their music was the theme song for anti-colonial movements and an emerging Congolese identity. In fact, the film begins with Wendo and friends performing the song that made him a legend and "father" of Congolese rumba back in 1948, "Marie-Louise," which got him arrested by the Catholic Church for it's "satanic powers."

Wendo was also said to have risen the dead with this infectious, unforgettably beautiful and sweet love song. It laid the foundation for decades of rumba and soukous in Kinshasa and Brazzaville, including the sembene instrumental sections and characteristic fusion of Cuban son and other influences with Congolese styles and sung in Lingala. Now, to accredit Wendo with the creation of the famed Congolese genre is problematic, but his association with a Greek record label owner who started N'Goma in the 1940s was a brilliant decision that led to scores of locally recorded "rumba" by musicians in Kinshasa and Brazzaville. Listen to the original "Marie-Louise" and Wendo's other version of the classic. This live version is also good as well as "Camille" here because of the strong Cuban influences on the guitarist. Despite his early string of hits for N'Goma and pivotal role in the spread of the genre, his career died off after the rise of Mobutu. Wendo found himself returning to his former occupation as a boatman mechanic in order to make a living and not become a pawn of Mobutu's kleptocratic regime.

The rest of the film consists of interviews with other musicians and older residents of Kinshasa with connections to Fondation Wendo, the band and location in Kinshasa where Kolosoy's group performs. Some are quite poignant and moving, especially the older woman lamenting the death of her husband, a Malian, and children, leaving her alone in poverty in this world. The children and poor younger generation, whose lives are also depicted as one of triumph and joy within the horrible economic situation and political crisis of the Congo, seem to appreciate this music from a "golden age" of Congolese music where life seemed easier, people were more optimistic about the fate of the Congo after the formal end to Belgian rule, and the catastrophes and international actors contributing to the crisis in the eastern Congo or the rise of Mobutu did not happen yet. Now, of course life in the 1940s to early 1960s was hardly ideal in Congo, but everyone seems to want to escape to the past through nostalgic eyes...

There were some interesting moments in the film where the musicians themselves or other interviewees discussed colonialism and the postcolonial crisis quite clearly. Indeed, the end of the film, besides Wendo criticizing the current Congolese state, also features text explaining how international forces, including mining companies and Western powers, have intervened in the Congo and contributed to the political crisis, civil war, and deaths of untold millions in recent years over the Congo's wealth of precious metals in Katanga and other provinces. Likewise, one scene shows different murals and street art in Kinshasa featuring Patrice Lumumba, Wendo Kolosoy himself, and other scenes in the history of the Congo, including the slave trade and colonialism, represented by the Arab/Swahili traders on the eastern border and the Europeans coming from the west. In a different vein, Wendo and others also say nearly pro-imperialist sentiments at different points in the film. I see this most explicitly in Wendo calling for the band to pray and thank God but also expresses gratitude for "Christian salvation" that seems to, in some subtle way, justify Belgian colonialism and genocide inflicted upon the peoples of the Congo. Perhaps I am reading too much into it, and perhaps, since Wendo was an orphan raised by Catholics, his "gratitude" for being freed from the pagan ways of the past is misrepresented in the film. The film never fully explores the crisis in the Congo nor the history of Congolese rumba, so anyone looking for a deep analysis of Congolese politics or the civil war should look elsewhere. This film is really about the performances and the musicians telling their story with nostalgic, wistful eyes as they recall learning to play music by ear, their origins, the deaths of loved ones, and enjoy each other's company. Anyone interested in Congolese music or just seeing Kinshasa and the people who live there, watch this documentary.

Brazzaville musician on likembe performing with the band in Kinshasa