Ep. 6: Congo, January 1917

Matinee Idyll

New member
"Alittle subversion is good for the soul..."

Well, Attilla seems keen to get to this one ;)

A truly beautiful episode - so much to love. One of my favourite classical pieces, Jesu, Joy of Mans Desiring... the scene with the music playing at the empty piano, with all the patients leaving the hospital - my that's powerful!

yij46.jpg


After watching this episode, I was the most philosophical 12 year old in town...

More thoughts to come, but get talking!
 

Attila the Professor

Moderator
Staff member
Matinee Idyll said:
After watching this episode, I was the most philosophical 12 year old in town...

Heh, yeah, I know that feeling well enough.

But Schweitzer - such a giant, and not many really know who he is today. If I could have seen only one of the episodes of the series, it would be this one. Being a Schweitzer is not an absolute good, nothing really quite is, but it's certainly a type it would be great to have more of, with that genuine kind of humanitarian dedication, and not the put-on posturing humanitarianism we sometimes see. And a brilliant scholar of music and of theology as well, or so I've heard - I've been meaning to read some of his stuff sometime.

Such a waste some things are.
 

bucketmonkey

New member
Matinee Idyll, we must be on the same wavelength. The use of that song was brilliant. When this episode came out I bought the newly re-released autobiography of Schweitzer and ended up writing a paper on it/him in a philosophy of religion class.

Attila, I haven't looked lately, but the only thing in book form is the biography. It is called Out of my Life and Thoughts I believe. The Reverence for Life for which he is famous was, I think, an essay that changed over the years.
 

Jooones!

New member
Yeah Im with you- a great episode...great performance by Friedrich von Thun there too...it well depicted the humanitarian philosophy that very life is worth saving and that theres no difference between nationalities in worth etc. Also a good depiction of various bureaucrat-tpyes, too!
 

Stoo

Well-known member
Too much to say about this one...

In 1992, Albert Schwietzer was a name I'd heard of but never knew exactly
who he was or what he did. 1 hr. on a warm, spring evening cleared that up
thanks to "Congo - January 1917". Great episode! My favourite parts:

-Indy & Schwietzer playing on the piano together
-Indy being picked up and carried off the boat
-The French soldiers at Port Gentil and Lambarene
-Schwietzer's dialogue about "Reverance for Life"
-Jeremiah Sloat. He was perfect! "Listen t'me Sonny, if ya think yar gonna rig
my boat with them fireworks...yar as crazy as a rat in a tin can!"

"Chronicles" was one of the first shows to be broadcast in stereo and we had
our TV hooked up to the stereo speakers. It used to be fun trying to create the
home-theatre-experience by shutting all the lights, turning down the TV volume
and jacking up the stereo. Watching Indy dodge bullets that were flying from
one side of the room to the other was something I couldn't get enough of.
Plus, all the music was excellent! Not a bad note to be found and hearing the
score so LOUD and crystilline clear never failed to immerse me in each episode.

In "Congo", when "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" began playing, my mother heard
the music, came downstairs and asked what I was watching. She stayed for
the rest of the show and when it was over we watched that part again on tape
just to appease her love for the piece.

Interestingly enough, this scene seems to have been lifted from the film,
"Light in the Jungle" (aka "Out of Darkness" or "Schwietzer"), from 1990.
Malcolm McDowell plays the good doctor and it's worth watching if you can
track it down. In it, you will find a similar sequence with the same music.

My VHS tapes of Young Indy are topped up with documentary clips pertaining
to each episode (like Lucas is doing now). One bit has footage and interviews
with Schwietzer c.1965, just before he died, attempting to criticize him for his
all-white staff and neglect in teaching any medical procedures to natives.

There is an Albert Schwietzer Museum a few hours north of where I'm presently
living which I'd like to visit someday. He was from the disputed French/German
province of Alsace and was born just a few years after the Franco-Prussian War.
This, I suppose, would (technically) make him German but Schwietzer, himself,
was not even sure which country he belonged to which makes his deportation
from Africa all the more ridiculous.

You're a better man than I am, Albert Schwietzer...
 

Matinee Idyll

New member
Utterly bizarre and confounding that the show was cancelled after this, one of the best episodes in the series.

Great to you see you guys diggin' on it too.
 

Sven

New member
This episode is unique in several ways. Besides the Krishnamurti episode this one is the probably most spiritual and philosophic piece of the show. Very emotional and wise.

Furthermore it seems to me that it is the only episode in which Germans doesn't showed in stereotypes. The typical American view created some effects of the storyline which seems historical false to me. For example the German officer of the P.O.W. camp in the "Germany, Mid-August 1916" episode acts like a SS guy of WW II. Please recognize: Almost every officer in the time of the German Monarchy (until 1918) was an aristocrat. These guys had a very special code of honor and pride of rank. Such an lack of self control would have been very unusual and damaging to the reputation. In opposite to that the later Nazi henchmen were mostly members of the middle class.

However, as a German I have to say that Albert Schweitzer is still known and honored here. Many schools (118 nationwide in 2007), streets, awards and organizations bear his name. There are some so-called "Albert Schweitzer Children's Villages" in Germany for kids from broken families or there is the Albert Schweitzer Tournament for youth national Basketball teams.

I like how Remy is angry in the end of the story. And I still regret that the bookend is removed cause it's important to know that Albert Schweitzer returned to Africa after the war, opened a new and better hospital and received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1953.

Friedrich von Thun (I already wrote elsewhere that he is a relative of the real Princess Sophie in Indy's locket) is still a popular actor here in Germany even he isn't a German but from Austria. Here some recent pictures at the website of his agency:

http://www.agentur-alexander.de/schauspieler_56_1.html
 

Stoo

Well-known member
Sven said:
This episode is unique in several ways. Besides the Krishnamurti episode this one is the probably most spiritual and philosophic piece of the show. Very emotional and wise.
Judging from the opinions at The Raven, pairing this episode with the previous chapter to make "Oganga, Giver and Taker of Life" is generally regarded as the top favourite of the whole series. (It's certainly one of mine.)
Sven said:
Furthermore it seems to me that it is the only episode in which Germans doesn't showed in stereotypes. The typical American view created some effects of the storyline which seems historical false to me.
Ugh...Don't get me started on that issue!(n) It appears that you're re-visiting the series in order so wait until you get to "Hawkmen" since Baron von Richtofen is portrayed quite favourably.
Sven said:
I like how Remy is angry in the end of the story. And I still regret that the bookend is removed cause it's important to know that Albert Schweitzer returned to Africa after the war, opened a new and better hospital and received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1953.
I LOVE when Remy punches Indy!(y) Yes, it's a shame the bookends were cut.:(

Schweitzer being a true German is a matter of great debate. Even though he was born in Alsace while it was under German control, he did switch his nationality to French immediately after WW1 ended when France regained Alsace. (As far as I'm aware, Schweitzer grew up speaking the Alsatian dialect of German but his parents were, technically, French.)
 

Sven

New member
Stoo said:
Schweitzer being a true German is a matter of great debate. Even though he was born in Alsace while it was under German control, he did switch his nationality to French immediately after WW1 ended when France regained Alsace. (As far as I'm aware, Schweitzer grew up speaking the Alsatian dialect of German but his parents were, technically, French.)

It's like Albert Einstein. Some nations (Germany, Switzerland, USA) claim him as their citizen. ;)
 

InexorableTash

Active member
While everyone is giving Oganga some much-deserved love...

We're missing time indices for many of the OST tracks at http://www.youngindianajonesmusic.com/cue-lists/11-oganga-the-giver-and-taker-of-life - if anyone plans to watch the episode, please keep an ear out for the use of tracks for OST#2 and identify the exact times they occur in the episode(s)/chapter (preferably with DVD time indices).

PM me if you need more detail on what we're looking for.
 
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