The_Void Goodbye, Uncle Tom is one of the Mondo films released in Italy in the seventies. I'm not a fan of this type of film and therefore I've only seen a handful of them - however, from my basic knowledge of the genre; this one is way above average and actually delivers a good film to go along with the numerous shocks. I have to be honest and say that the central theme doesn't really interest me. The film is basically an exploitation style documentary the American South prior to the civil war and primarily focuses on the slave trade. I don't know a great deal about this period of history and so I can't say how accurate this film is - but really it doesn't matter. While the film follows a documentary approach; that's really not the strongest element of Goodbye, Uncle Tom. The film, for me, is all about style and directors Franco Prosperi and Gualtiero Jacopetti lay this style on thick and it really works brilliantly. The music (excellent score by Riz Ortolani) and the cinematography are fascinating, and this is a real bona piece of seventies Spaghetti film-making.Films like this are generally designed to shock the viewer, and that is certainly the case here. The central theme allows for plenty of shocks and the most shocking scene on a visceral level is probably the rape sequence. However, the core of this film's ability to shock stems from the premise upwards and it's uncomfortable, especially in these times, to see how black people were once treated by their "masters". A scene in which a slave trader explains what his slaves are worth in the same way a cattle rancher might try and sell his stock, and why you cannot train an Indian to be a slave is the most shocking in this respect. It's hard to really rate the film alongside others in terms of acting and the script; but suffice to say, everything shown in the film is very realistic and it wouldn't be hard for an audience to believe that the film is taking place in pre-civil war America (if it weren't for the fact that film-making equipment was not invented back then, of course). Overall, Goodbye Uncle Tom is a great piece of exploitation that shocks, thrills and intrigues in equal measures. Highly recommended viewing.

Eli_Zardo This film's raison d'etre is to display the denigration of Black people for entertainment. That's it, so stop making excuses.The first 100 minutes or so are just an endless series of scenes where Blacks are humiliated. During many sequences it becomes impossible to think of the cast as anything other than people being manipulated by the filmmakers into degrading themselves.The stunning aspect is that while an effort is made to expose the slave trade participants as beastly and ignorant through their actions there is no effort made at all to refute their stance or present any Black characters in a positive way. They are either savages, meek, accomplices or given no voice at all.During much of it the incredibly insulting things the slave trade participants say about Blacks isn't even challenged. Now that could be taken as a style of 'indictment with their own words' but the filmmakers present it all in a way that visually seems to support what is said. Basically they cut from a white character saying Blacks are savages and then they show a scene of Blacks acting like savages!Change a few lines of dialog and this grotesquerie would be perfect fodder for White supremacists. Even the last few minutes where a speechless Black guy in "modern" America reads from The Confessions of Nat Turner perpetuates negative violent/sexual stereotypes.There is however one great scene... a gaggle of white wives discussing the reasons given to them by their husbands explaining why the female slaves keep having babies with paler skin or blond hair.If you're a fan of exploitation of the truly lowest order this thing is a treasure trove, I would actually recommend it based on that criteria, it's genuinely outrageous, inept and shameless. Just don't fool yourself regarding what it's really doing or rationalize it.

thomasleo-1 This movie shows you a realistic view of what happened during the slave trade in the USA. The senses in the movie may cause anger, sorrow, and a sense of revenge!!! On an esoteric side of things, this movie shows you the evil that the human heart can produce when power is unbalanced. In those days, the white race was surely the devil. This movie takes a look into the mind of those who exploited blacks from economically to sexually. Scenes of Stud Farms where women are raped to breed more labor, will take you into the ugly world called White Heaven. Pediphile sex scenes are also for your viewing; where the 'plantation master' fulfills his darkest fantasies, unchecked!!!Remember, the original version is rated X. After viewing this movie, you'll see why the government banned it. One man's paradise is another man's HELL. Good luck!

julian kennedy Addio Zio Tom: 7/10: Well they don't make them like this anymore and lets face it they never really did. This is really three separate films brought together in a blender set on random. The first film is a highly effective expose on slave treatment and the slave trade in the old south (the slave ship scenes blows Hollywood fare like Armistad out of the water). Using a cast of thousands and exposing practices such as selective breeding that are politely not discussed on American shores (just ask Jimmy the Greek) it simply is one of the most realistic display's of 18th and 19th century slave life ever shown on film. Then there is a second film which is a dated, and looking back rather silly collection, of news footage from the late sixties and early seventies that documents race riots with all the participants speaking in Italian creating an almost Woody Allen feel to the dub (It gives What's up Tiger Lilly a run for its money complete with ragtime music cementing the silliness of what should be serious proceedings.) The last movie is a sexploitation film dealing largely with Mandingo fantasies and containing a copious amount of child porn. (I guess National Geographic rules apply when showing thirteen year old black children naked). Needless to say tasteful does not enter into the conversation. Political correctness is shattered so badly one must feel for those sensitive souls that can't laugh at ridiculousness of the manipulation.Making matters worse the three films are intertwined together seemingly at random with comic buffoonery breaking out during serious scenes (A slave auction is apt to turn into a Benny Hill episode for no apparent reason) and poorly done black revenge fantasies coming, narratively at least, out of nowhere. Anti-white, anti-black and for the sake of inclusion anti-Semitic they once again simply don't make them like this anymore. (It's highly illegal for one thing) Overlong by at least an hour and very poorly thought out in places Addio Zio Tom wears out its welcome but for a short while at least it exposes the truth and makes one think.