SLAVERS

US/West Germany, 1978, 103 minutes, Colour.
Trevor Howard, Britt Ekland, Ron Ely, Cameron Mitchell, Ray Milland, Ken Gampu.
Directed by Jurgen Goslar.

Slavers is a portrait of the end of the slave era in the 1880s. It is situated on the west coast of Africa. The film shows slave owners, the clashes amongst themselves – especially as the supply of slaves is dwindling.

While the film has a number of scenes of callous treatment of slaves, it also has some of the characters coming to some realisation of the evils of the trade and an awareness of aspects of human dignity.

The film came out in the aftermath of the miniseries Roots on American television which raised the consciousness in the popular audience of issues of African slaves and the slave trade.

The director is German – as is some of the supporting cast while most of the main cast are veterans of film and television.

1. The entertainment value of the film? Historical background? Message? For what audience was it made?

2. The film reflecting the trends of the seventies? Roots, Mandingo? Interest in race? Violent trends, exploitation?

3. The film as a British- German co-production? European styles? Stars? The values?

4. The points of view of the film makers? Their judgments about slavery, about Europeans involved in slavery? About the Africans and their plight?

5. The importance of the prologue? The European setting, the duel? Germany, Von Erck and his wife? Their arrogance and violence? To be transferred to Africa?

6. The transition to the slave raid and the types involved? Especially Hassan? The African traders themselves? The violence and the humiliation?

7. How well did the plot bring the German background together with the slave situation? The situation in Africa itself?

8. The slavers and their personalities, their double?dealing, cruelty: Hassan, Massumo, Da Silva?

9. The characterization of Von Erck and his wife? Their mission for exploring for Germany. the violence and the dangers, the sequence on the rapids and his death?

10. Stephen Hamilton as an adventurer? His involvement in Africa, his presence there, fighting? His reaction to the slavers? His involvement with Von Erck's wife?

11. The portrait of the Africans and their motivations? The slave hero and heroine?

12. The focus on McKenzie? as a typep his arrogant style, the truth about him, his death?

13. The value of this kind of re-creation of Africa? Visual impact? The point behind the film?