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Lumumba

  • 20002000
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 55m
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
2K
YOUR RATING
Lumumba (2000)
Theatrical Trailer from Zeitgeist Films
Play trailer1:39
1 Video
11 Photos
BiographyDramaHistory
The true story of controversial leader of independent Congo, Patrice Lumumba.The true story of controversial leader of independent Congo, Patrice Lumumba.The true story of controversial leader of independent Congo, Patrice Lumumba.
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
2K
YOUR RATING
    • Raoul Peck
    • Pascal Bonitzer
    • Dan Edelstein(English dubbed version)
    • Raoul Peck
  • Stars
    • Eriq Ebouaney
    • Alex Descas
    • Théophile Sowié
    • Raoul Peck
    • Pascal Bonitzer
    • Dan Edelstein(English dubbed version)
    • Raoul Peck
  • Stars
    • Eriq Ebouaney
    • Alex Descas
    • Théophile Sowié
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 35User reviews
    • 28Critic reviews
    • 78Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards

    Videos1

    Lumumba
    Trailer 1:39
    Watch Lumumba

    Photos11

    Lumumba (2000)
    Lumumba (2000)
    Lumumba (2000)
    Lumumba (2000)
    Lumumba (2000)
    Lumumba (2000)
    Lumumba (2000)
    Eriq Ebouaney in Lumumba (2000)
    Eriq Ebouaney in Lumumba (2000)
    Eriq Ebouaney in Lumumba (2000)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Eriq Ebouaney
    Eriq Ebouaney
    • Patrice Émery Lumumba
    Alex Descas
    Alex Descas
    • Joseph Mobutu
    Théophile Sowié
    • Maurice Mpolo
    • (as Théophile Moussa Sowie)
    Maka Kotto
    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
    Francis Adam
    • Le maître d'hôtel
    Olivier Bony
    • BAUDOIN
    Alain Bouillé
    • Le pilote du Dakota
    Pavel Dobrovsky
    • Belgian soldier
    Mata Gabin
    • Helene Bijou
    Michael Hofland
    • Belgian visa officer
    Edgar Henri Mato
    • Un ministre
      • Raoul Peck
      • Pascal Bonitzer
      • Dan Edelstein(English dubbed version)
      • Raoul Peck
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Raoul Peck had already made a film about Lumumba in 1992: "Lumumba, la mort du prophète", but it was a documentary.
    • Goofs
      During a scene when Lumumba arrived at Brussels airport for round-table conference, an Airbus A300 and Lockheed C-141 Starlifter can be clearly seen. Both Airbus A300 and Lockheed C-141 Starlifter had not yet enter into service and fly at that time during the event on the film which took place in 1960. Airbus A300 made its first flight was on 28 October 1972, twelve years after the event on the movie took place and Lockheed C-141 Starlifter made its first flight on 17 December 1963, three years after the event on the movie took place.
    • Quotes

      [first lines]

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

    • Alternate versions
      Frank Carlucci, who was second secretary at the U.S. embassy in the Congo at the time of Lumumba's assassination, is portrayed in one scene discussing the murder with U.S. Ambassador Clare Timberlake and several Belgian and Congolese officials. Carlucci threatened to sue U.S. distributor Zeitgeist Films if his name was not removed from the movie. Zeitgeist was too small to fight any potential lawsuit, so all non-theatrical U.S. releases of the film (including the version shown on HBO and potential VHS and DVD releases) have Carlucci's name bleeped from the dialogue and masked in the closing credits.
    • Connections
      Featured in Exterminate All the Brutes: Who the F*** is Columbus? (2021)

    User reviews35

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    absorbing dramatization
    I was a pre-teen when news of Lumumba's assassination hit the news so I very vaguely recall at the time it was sad a leader who tried to shuck the reigns of colonialization was killed for efforts towards independence.

    There is woefully insufficient time in a 2 hour movie to completely explain the whos whys and wherefores of a political assassination. Suffice to say the victors write the history and even if the truth were portrayed adequately, who's truth would it be? As the character Lumumba says in the movie, he came 50 years too early.

    I found the story fast paced with good production values. It mirrored the all too brief time in power for a promising African leader, and there is a dearth of them lately. That continent still suffers a vacuum in its leadership, a state that will take another century to rectify. The film and life of Lumumba is a lesson of how badly things can go wrong in a climate of conflicting objectives and numerous parties and forces acting in a volatile setting. Congo had just gained independence and tribal rivalry reared its head very quickly. It is suggested for example that Lumumba seek sanctuary in the province of Katanga, where months before he had been refused landing rights in a flight to visit the troubled area. Politics makes strange bedfellows.

    The time of the 1960s was the height of the cold war and Lumumba's courting of Soviet aid to fast track his country did not win any favours. No doubt the superpower USA had at least some hand in his death, much the same as Ngo Dhin Diem in Vietnam around the same time. Attempts to assassinate Fidel Castro at that time are also well documented so it may be some measure of just desserts that Kennedy met his end with an assassin's bullet.

    Read up on that period of history then watch the movie to get additional value for the time you invest, and then you will be prepared to better understand contemporary events in far off places when national interests are at stake. Oil, diamonds, bauxite, coffee, whatever; liberty always seems to take a back seat when these interests get the ear of the powers that be.

    Realism in the film is reinforced with the french dialog. I also understood the subtleties having studied military coups in university under a black professor who came from Nigeria.
    helpful•8
    3
    • widescreenguy
    • May 9, 2004

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 27, 2000 (Belgium)
      • France
      • Belgium
      • Germany
      • Haiti
      • French
      • Lingala
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Belgium
    • Production companies
      • JBA Production
      • Entre Chien et Loup
      • Essential Filmproduktion GmbH
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 1 hour 55 minutes
      • Dolby SR

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