| Description |
1 videodisc (92 min.) : sound, color ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 insert (1 folded sheet ([4] pages) : illustrations ; 19 cm) |
| Series |
Classic collection (Chicago, Ill.)
|
| System Details |
DVD, Region 1, mono, widescreen presentation aspect ratio 1.66:1. |
| Language |
Black and white in color: In French, German, and English with optional subtitles in English. The sky above, the mud below: Narration in English. |
| Note |
Includes the short film, The sky above, the mud below (1961). |
| Cast |
Black and white in color: Jean Carmet, Jacques Dufilho, Catherine Rouvel, Jacques Spiesser, Dora Doll, Maurice Barrier, Benjamin Memel Atchori, Peter Berling, Marius Bengre Boignan, Claude Legros, and the inhabitants of Niofouin, Cote d'Ivoire. The sky above, the mud below: narrator, William Peacock. |
| Credits |
Black and white in color: Editing, Françoise Bonnot, Michele Böehm ; original music, Pierre Bachelet ; camera, Claude Agostini ; subtitles, Liliane Strauss. The sky above, the mud below: cameraman, Gilbert Sarthre ; editor, Georges Arnstam. |
| Summary |
Black and white in color: A French colony in Africa's Ivory Coast discovers months after the fact that World War I has begun. Spurred on by a capricious patriotism, they figure they'll do their part by attacking the German colony up the river. After all, they have six rifles, and one of them is an automatic. So off to war they march -- or rather, their servants do, carrying the white folk on palanquins. They soon stop for a lovely picnic. When machine gun fire is heard in the distance, they run back to the safety of the colony. All goes well until a young geographer becomes the key strategist for the French, working with the local tribal chief and turning the old colonial social hierarchy on its head. |
|
The sky above, the mud below: Long before PBS, National Geographic, and the Discovery Channel made documentaries ubiquitous, films like this seminal if straightforward work were only available via local art house theaters. One of the earliest looks into native life on Papua New Guinea, this documentary follows a group of Europeans on a seven-month trek to bisect the island. During the perilous expedition (450 miles, as a crow flies) through jungle and across high altitudes, the group encounters tribes of headhunters and cannibals, observing and filming their rituals and ceremonies. |
| Contents |
Black and white in color: Opening credits -- German army depends on us -- Just another day in the colony -- Simple geographer -- Matter of taste -- Vive le France! -- Conscripts -- Strategy -- Crossing the Rhine -- Patriotic spectacle -- Machine gun? -- Rising to the occasion -- Community support -- Terribly refined -- Decision #21 -- Christian conscience -- Name is Bartheleme -- Staging the troops -- Peace & security -- Trench warfare -- Decent army of French savages -- I used to be a socialist -- End credits. |
|
The sky above, the mud below: Opening credits -- Excursion -- Island of the wicked -- We were off -- First encounter -- News of our arrival -- Mock birth -- Adoption -- Ghost tree cutting -- Back to the sea -- Must be realistic -- Progress delayed -- From another world -- Bridge -- Going on -- Off at dawn -- Last edge -- Which river? -- At last. |
| Note |
Special features: Interview with the filmmakers [director Jean-Jacques Annaud and producer Arthur Cohn] (14 min.); Arthur Cohn: Producer's perspective (5 min.); Filmographies [text feature]; essay by film historian Ronald Falzone [insert]. |
|
For specific features see interactive menu. |
| Awards |
Academy Award Winner, Best Foreign Language Film, 1976. |
| Subject |
Côte d'Ivoire -- Drama -- Videodiscs.
|
|
France -- Colonies -- Africa -- Drama -- Videodiscs.
|
|
Papua New Guinea -- Drama -- Videodiscs.
|
|
Racism -- Drama -- Videodiscs.
|
|
DVDs.
|
| Local Subject |
FOREIGN FILMS (FRENCH), VIDEODISCS.
|
|
ACADEMY AWARD WINNERS, 1976.
|
| Genre |
Foreign films.
|
|
Feature films Côte d'Ivoire.
|
|
Motion pictures, French.
|
| Added Author |
Cohn, Arthur, 1928-
|
|
Perrin, Jacques, 1941-2022
|
|
Silvagni, Giorgio.
|
|
LaFuite, Rene.
|
|
Levine, Joseph E.
|
|
Annaud, Jean-Jacques.
|
|
Gaisseau, Pierre Dominique, 1923-1997.
|
|
Conchon, Georges, 1925-
|
|
Carmet, Jean.
|
|
Dufilho, Jacques.
|
|
Rouvel, Catherine, 1939-
|
|
Spiesser, Jacques, 1947-
|
|
Doll, Dora, 1922-
|
|
Peacock, William.
|
|
Reggane Films.
|
|
Société française de production.
|
|
Artco Film Productions.
|
|
Embassy Pictures Corp.
|
|
Janus Films.
|
|
Home Vision Entertainment (Firm)
|
| Added Title |
Sky above, the mud below.
|
| ISBN |
0780026489 |
| Standard No. |
037429176221 |
| Music No. |
BLA080 Home Vision Entertainment |
|
More Resources