The United Colours of Benetton – anyone growing up in the 80s would remember the advertisements for this clothing brand: images of people of all colours, nationalities, races interacting on an equal footing, enjoying a harmonious existence and joyfully pushing societal boundaries. We were impressed by Benetton – clearly he was using his clothes to send out a great message about equality and freedom. Ale Corte’s Colours at the End of the World shows us that this was merely a very cleverly crafted marketing campaign, with one aim: to make money.

That money has spurned an empire for Benetton, with the acquisition of huge tracts of land in Patagonia, Argentina. Land that, we now discover, was illegally acquired. This film tells the story, not only of the underhanded, immoral and unethical actions of a multinational company, but it also comments on the broader issue of indigenous land rights, an issue which dominates the world over but receives minimal attention because it is not about money.

Meet Rosa and Atilio, two members of an ancient tribe of Mapuche people, caught up in a battle for the land taken from them, the indigenous people of the area by the British government during colonial times. This land was sold by the Argentine government to a British company – the Southern Argentine Land Company – who consequently sold it on to various other companies, one of which is Benetton. The families of Rosa and Atilio were falsely evicted from their land by the government authorities when Benetton successfully won court claim to the land.

‘Mapu’ means ‘land’ and ‘Che’ means ‘people’, explains Atilio, so the Mapuche, even by their very name, are people of the land. Not just in the sense that they reside on that land and have done, probably for millennia; in the sense that they are in fact part of that land, physically, mentally, emotionally and culturally. Their connection to the land means that, without it, they lose their culture and therefore their reason for being, and we have already seen the result of this demonstrated to a lesser or greater extent in other cultures around the world, from the Native Americans to the Australian Aboriginals.

‘This is silent extermination,’ says Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Perez Esquivel. He accompanied Rosa and Atilio to Rome to speak to Mr Benetton himself about the problem. When confronted, however, Benetton said he didn’t know the land they were referring to. Apparently the man himself has only visited Argentina once. He has since donated money in order to improve the lives of some of the homeless people in the area. But Rosa and Atilio are still not recognised as legal occupiers of their own land.

Benetton apparently owns over a million hectares of land in the region, yet the 350 hectares that Atilio and Rosa ask for is denied them. Instead, the company has built huge farms for sheep and cattle there, and various other conveniences such as a police station and shops. Benetton has also constructed the Leleque museum, dedicated to the Tehuelches and proclaiming them to be the only original inhabitants of the area, which is only slightly removed from the truth. To her astonishment, Rosa discovered photographs of her grandparents and great grandparents on display in the museum as testament to the people who ‘used to’ live in the area. Not only do those people still remain in the area, the photographs are not of the people they claim them to be. Rosa and Atilio, understandably, consider the museum a joke. The very thought of walking into a museum to find images of your family displayed alongside false information is, at best, amusing.

Colours is not just about Benetton’s misdoings, it makes a broader statement about globalisation and the damage wealth and power can do. It also paints a picture of yet another culture ripped apart by British colonisation. If we see beyond this, however, we may ask ourselves just how deep rooted this issue of one nation taking over another is. Hasn’t it happened before? For as long as human history has been documented… But just because something has happened in the past doesn’t mean it should happen again. Whose mistakes are we learning from?

Corte has exposed a mammoth issue with Colours, and one that desperately needed a voice. A passionate and complex film, throwing forward a whole series of important issues that we as human beings should understand, Colours is an exceptional piece, not to be missed.

Katharina Chase
London-based Australian writer, linguist and social historian

To read our interview with director Ale Corte, click here.

To read more reviews of the film, click here.

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