The American actor Woody Strode is the physical and moral center of Zurlini's allegorical film set in an unnamed African country-a thinly disguised Belgian Congo, with Strode's martyred Lalubi a stand-in for Patrice Lumumba as well as, more obviously, for Jesus. With mercenary soldiers fighting a merciless war against the local population, Lalubi is a charismatic leader whose weapons are words themselves-the soothing voice that mesmerizes people into resistance. Betrayed by one of his own, Lalubi is imprisoned to await the torture he knows will be his death. Sharing his cell is a young Italian thief, Oreste (Pasolini discovery Franco Citti), who becomes his disciple and protector. Shot in the deceptively warm colors and cool shadows of Africa, Black Jesus violently portrays the terror of indifference and the indifference of terror. If it has the elegiac bluntness of Sam Fuller, its topic was bold for its moment, and is still worth the beauty and power of its passion. (JB)