Film Analysis 1


         This film clip sets up the movie; it tells the audience what the movie will be about. It gives us the background story of why Col. James Patterson needs to go to Africa and build this bridge.  It talks about how there were multiple countries competing with one another in a "race to save Africa from the Africans and of course to end slavery". The main theme of this movie is colonizing Africa by building the most expensive and daring railroad in history. The Colonial’s mission in Africa was to exploit this new land in the name of one’s country. They would exploit Africa's resources for use in their own country competing with all other nations in Europe at the time. They used the idea that they were bringing culture and civilization to primitive people to justify their actions. This movie is setting up the colonialists as the protagonists by reinforcing this outlook to the viewers.

  Film Analysis of Videos 2/3

         These two scenes show the difference between how London is portrayed and how the filmmakers show Africa.  Before he sets off to build the Tsavo bridge, Colonel Patterson’s wife sees him off in London.   The hustle and business of London is reminiscent of modern Wall Street.  There are many wealthy people here too, suggesting how advanced England is at the height of the colonial era.  Before he departs, Patterson’s wife tells him, “you build bridges John; you have to go where the rivers are.”  This shows the mentality of 1894 England, if not the mentality of the writers, that natural features like rivers are problems that need to be solved.  The next scene takes place when Patterson arrives in Mombasa.  The two scenes are placed so close together in the movie that it is impossible not to compare them.  Mombasa is the opposite of how London is shown.  The market Colonel Patterson walks through is dirty, loud, and unorganized.  There are various ethnic groups all distinguishable by their traditional clothing, as Patterson walks through them wearing his: the stereotypical uniform and wide brimmed hat of British colonialists.
Film Analysis of Videos 3/4
        In this scene Lt. Col. Patterson is on train to Tsavo. He has a long trip through the savanna where from looking outside the train he can see all of Africa’s magnificent animals. Stated in the book The Myth of Wild Africa “Europeans invented a mythical Africa, which soon claimed a place of a privilege in the Western imagination. We cling to our faith in Africa as a glorious Eden for wildlife” This was portrayed in the first ten minutes of the movie. This is not how it would be taking a train through the savanna; this is how Hollywood has stereotyped what Africa should be like. In reality, those animals would not be that close to the train. You would not be able to see the giraffes eating from the trees only 10 feet away from the train.
       During this next scene Lt. Col. Patterson arrives in Tsavo, this is the first time he sees workers and people because of how barren the savanna landscape was. The reason Lt. Col. Patterson was brought to Tsavo to build a bridge that will expand the railway tracks across Africa. This is portraying how the English are trying to take over all of the land and colonize everything. This film is based on a book written by Lt. Col. Patterson so this movie is based on his perspective of what happened. In the scene it looks like the workers are well treated and they all seem to like him. When in reality the workers were probably not treated well at all and would not get along with him. Hollywood avoids the difficult aspects of colonialism, for instance, there is no mention of racism in the film.

Film Analysis 5
          This scene takes place on the frontier of Tsavo. On the other side of the bridge, there is an expanse of savanna grass with some low rising mountains beyond that, the tracks quickly disappear into the tall grass.  Behind Patterson, Angus Starling, and Mahina, lies Tsavo itself, a little outpost of civilization thanks to the British colonialists. It is clear that the filmmakers want to create a sense of isolation. The savanna is still a pristine landscape, apparently devoid of people save for the camp.  However, the animals Patterson saw on his train ride into Tsavo are gone as well, and there is a new element of danger mixed in to this exotic environment as evidenced by the ominous music and shots of wind moving through the grass.

          The characters are having a discussion about Colonel Patterson’s recent lion kill, when Mahina informs the other two that he also has killed a lion, except with his hands.  The line is mostly used as a set up for the new threat posed by the Ghost and the Darkness, and Mahina’s eventual death, but it also gives us a glimpse at the western lens that Hollywood has a habit of looking through when portraying other cultures.  The idea of the “noble savage” is pretty apparent here, As it is suggested, Africa is a much simpler place, a dangerous environment without technology.  In this African landscape, humans have to be tougher and closer to their animal roots to defend themselves.  Ultimately, the way in which this films portrays African citizens is condescending and creates a false impression which only serves to make Africans seem alien to Westerners.

Conclusion

    The Ghost and the Darkness shows the same colonist view of Africa that the main characters express. In the very first scene, Colonel Patterson’s employer claims the British are saving Africa from itself. Although this line is very arrogant, it is how the storyline is told. White men bravely fend off the deadly lions and are there to protect the incapable workers from ending up as lion food. The film is filtered through a Hollywood flavored Western lens, showing Africa as wild and exotic. Throughout the movie Africans and their homeland are portrayed as being noble and pristine, further reinforcing the idea that Africa was just beginning to be developed by the civilization of the European world. The Ghost and the Darkness is entertaining but ultimately detrimental to how we view Africa from the Western world.