Lumumba (2000)

Director:

Raoul Peck

Writers:

Pascal Bonitzer (writer)
Dan Edelstein (English dubbed version)

Release Date:

27 September 2000 (Belgium)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | History | War

Plot:

The true story of the rise to power and brutal assassination of the formerly vilified and later redeemed leader of the independent Congo...

Plot Keywords:

Belgium | Military | Patrice Lumumba | Assassination | Congo

Awards:

4 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Eriq Ebouaney	...	Patrice Émery Lumumba
Alex Descas	...	Joseph Mobutu
Théophile Sowié	...	Maurice Mpolo (as Théophile Moussa Sowie)
Maka Kotto	...	Joseph Kasa Vubu
Dieudonné Kabongo	...	Godefroid Munungo
Pascal N'Zonzi	...	Moïse Tshombe
André Debaar	...	Walter J. Ganshof Van der Meersch
Cheik Doukouré	...	Joseph Okito
Makena Diop	...	Thomas Kanza (as Oumar Diop Makena)
Mariam Kaba	...	Pauline Lumumba
Rudi Delhem	...	Général Emile Janssens
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Francis Adam	...	Le maître d'hôtel
Alain Bouillé	...	Le pilote du Dakota
Mata Gabin	...	Helene Bijou
Edgar Henri Mato	...	Un ministre
Den Thatcher	...	Frank Carlucci
Paul Tingay

Also Known As:

Lumumba, retour au Congo (France) (working title)

Runtime:

115 min | Argentina:120 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival)

Country:

France | Belgium | Germany | Haiti

Language:

French | Lingala

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

South Africa:13V | New Zealand:M | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | France:U | Netherlands:16

Filming Locations:

Belgium

Company:

Arte

Trivia:

The final script is the result of documentary research. Another source is "Une saison au Congo", a play by Aimé Césaire.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Patrice Émery Lumumba: [voice over narration] You never knew about that night in Katanga. No one was to know.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Cinemania (2002)

A must see film. Excellent drama with historical backing

This movie is the best movie I have seen in a long time. It is also the best movie seen that uses a drama to tell history, without going to speculation such as with JFK,Nixon or Hoffa. It deftly depicts the clutches that Belgium had on the Congo. It also teases out easily for us the European and American forces that were behind the power the inflict the Congo today. The film was sure to specifically implicate the U.S., rightly so, in the murder of Lumumba. This film could never be made in the U.S. for U.S. film rarely criticizes itself in acts of imperialism and murder. (Save Stone's JFK) It also lets us in on the problems that were present with the inner conflict of the Congo, between Lumumba, Mobutu and Katanga. We can see how precarious countries sit in establishing new governments when their history is one of colonization and those who were the colonizers continue to pull the strings of power and force. The film is excellently shot with Eriq Ebouaney an excellent Lumumba. The cast is great and they really draw you into the feeling of the climate in the Congo during that time.

Again, this is a must see for those who love drama with a correct historical background. See my notes on Quilombo.