Hommage a Noir

Hommage a Noir


Starring:Hommage a Noir
Studio: Palm Pictures / Umvd
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
An unusual production with dream-inducing beauty, Ralf Schmerberg's Hommage à Noir is a striking effort to capture the essence of Africa's peoples through a highly original vision. Shot in ink-black and whipped-cream white tones, this rich and dynamic journal finds Schmerberg redefining our traditional visual context for African culture: the lively colors, the sweep of deserts, the whirl of community, the mix of traditions and modernism. In Hommage à Noir, particulars give way to the revelation of something deeper and universal. Instead of seeing life in a village on a bright day, we can't help but fall into the deep pools of blackness contained in empty windows, shadows, and skin tones. Or yearn for the affirming brilliance of light washing the earth with youthful promise. Schmerberg, a German, takes us through the world of various tribes, an open-air market, street scenes, and desert scenes, always looking for volumes spoken through the eyes of people. Quite a trip, sans narration but with music by Ralf Hildenbeutel. The DVD includes a too-brief interview with Schmerberg, scene index, photo gallery, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, and Stereo PCM Audio. --Tom Keogh
Hommage a Noir
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • Hommage a Noir
  • Africans as Extras
  • Colonialism Redux
  • video available?
  • Most beautuful BW photography I have ever seen out of Africa
 Hommage a Noir
Starring: Hommage a Noir
Manufacturer: Palm Pictures / Umvd
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 6305280479
Release Date: 1999-01-26

Amazon.com

An unusual production with dream-inducing beauty, Ralf Schmerberg's Hommage à Noir is a striking effort to capture the essence of Africa's peoples through a highly original vision. Shot in ink-black and whipped-cream white tones, this rich and dynamic journal finds Schmerberg redefining our traditional visual context for African culture: the lively colors, the sweep of deserts, the whirl of community, the mix of traditions and modernism. In Hommage à Noir, particulars give way to the revelation of something deeper and universal. Instead of seeing life in a village on a bright day, we can't help but fall into the deep pools of blackness contained in empty windows, shadows, and skin tones. Or yearn for the affirming brilliance of light washing the earth with youthful promise. Schmerberg, a German, takes us through the world of various tribes, an open-air market, street scenes, and desert scenes, always looking for volumes spoken through the eyes of people. Quite a trip, sans narration but with music by Ralf Hildenbeutel. The DVD includes a too-brief interview with Schmerberg, scene index, photo gallery, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, and Stereo PCM Audio. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Hommage a Noir.......2001-08-29

The cinematography in this film is amazing. It's wonderful film.

1 out of 5 stars Africans as Extras.......2001-04-17

Schmerberg is an artist, he probably could make a great Sting or Peter Gabriel or U2 video all musicians who put on a global front, but from his short serious statement of intent, his wish to change European textbooks and let people know Africa, the film was shot in Camaroon, but I guess he means the entire continent, is a wonderful place, places the creator as socialist, historian, and anthropologist. Even if during his comments he would have said "I just wanted to make a black and white film combing Africans and techno music, his methods are still suspicious. What if he would have turned his lens on San Bernadino or the Tenderloin or even just the people of his own country. He could have used the same music, but would he have used the lazy susan or thrown candy at them? This film is really too easy of a target. I presented a paper on Hommage A Noir in California recently and people laughed at it.

3 out of 5 stars Colonialism Redux.......2001-04-10

This film is not a documentary, but one German filmmaker's visual montage of "those strange, exotic beings" that inhabit Africa (actually just one small corner of Africa, the country of Cameroon). Schmerberg, as director, places his "subjects" on display (turning 'round on a lazy susan), throws candy at the children to animate them, directs the men to look fierce as they slowly pull their blades from their sheaths, etc., etc. "Hommage a Noir" is in some respects visually stunning, and the music is interesting in its own right (though *utterly* disconnected to its subject). But it is also offensive in it's stereotypical rendering of a foreign place and its inhabitants. Do not get this film if you expect anything close to documentary. And be prepared for a film that is as much indignity as it is homage.

5 out of 5 stars video available?.......2000-05-10

Hello, is there a video available instead of a dvd? Please inform me if possible. `Thanks a lot in advance. Christian.

5 out of 5 stars Most beautuful BW photography I have ever seen out of Africa.......1999-02-12

Edited equisitely to mesmerizing music, this is truely an homage to the continent of Africa and it's people. Stunning B&W photography. So stunning, in fact, that every shot is a beautiful "still" worthy of individual attention.

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