Goodbye Uncle Tom – Dir Cut (1971)

AKA: Zio Tom; Goodbye Uncle Tom – Original Cut
Directed by: Gualtiero Jacopetti, Franco Prosperi
Country: Italy; Effed Up European Cinema
Language: English (Optional Eng Subs)
Runtime: 02:03:14
Genres: Shockumentary-Documentary, Racism, Captivity-Kidnapping, Gruesome, Violence against Men, Sexual-Violence against Women, Old-Young, Torture, Misery, Violence Against Animals

About:
This version is referred to as both the Director’s Cut and Original Cut.

Even though Goodbye Uncle Tom is not the mondo we’re used to from the masters, Jacopetti-Prosperi, old habits die hard and this is a film presented as a documentary shot by a bunch of Italians who are intrigued and shocked by slavery in America. At the time of release, it was widely criticized as being an exploitative racist movie, when in fact it’s a sympathetic work that uses Jacopetti-Prosperi’s trademark dark humor while taking a look at misery and the elaborate operational efforts and dehumanization that went into successfully running the business of slavery in America. The other side, reverse racism is also presented, well ahead of its time.

Unlike a lot of movies with different cuts that are usually censorship related, it’s probably worth watching both versions:
1. They have sufficiently different footage.
2. The editing is different.
3. Some scenes that overlap are interpreted differently, either through the use of a voiceover or otherwise.
4. The same scenes sometimes have missing/additional footage that changes their impact. For example, the scene of runaway slaves being hunted is more detailed here, but ends in a way that is lighthearted. The Italian Cut however has some additional footage of dead bodies being dragged and severed heads carried like trophies.