Fresh
Peck, who assayed Lumumba's life in a 1991 documentary, now paces the doomed man's story like the genuine thriller it is.
Ella Taylor, L.A. Weekly
Overview
The true story of the rise to power and brutal assassination of the formerly vilified and later redeemed leader of the independent Congo, Patrice Lumumba. Using newly discovered historical evidence, Haitian-born and later Congo-raised writer and director Raoul Peck renders an emotional and tautly woven account of the mail clerk and beer salesman with a flair for oratory and an uncompromising belief in the capacity of his homeland to build a prosperous nation independent of its former Belgian overlords. Lumumba emerges here as the heroic sacrificial lamb dubiously portrayed by the international media and led to slaughter by commercial and political interests in Belgium, the United States, the international community, and Lumumba's own administration; a true story of political intrigue and murder where political entities, captains of commerce, and the military dovetail in their quest for economic and political hegemony.
Director and cast
- Raoul Peck Director
- Ériq Ebouaney as Patrice Émery Lumumba
- Alex Descas as Joseph Mobutu
- Théophile Sowié as Maurice Mpolo
- Maka Kotto as Joseph Kasa Vubu
- Dieudonné Kabongo as Godefroid Munungo
- Pascal N'Zonzi as Moïse Tshombe
- Cheik Doukouré as Joseph Okito
- Makena Diop as Thomas Kanza
- Mariam Kaba as Pauline Lumumba
- Rudi Delhem as Général Emile Janssens
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
81%
Tomatometer
Fresh
At the heart of the movie is Ebouaney's performance as Lumumba, every bit as intense as Denzel Washington's as Malcolm X.
John Monaghan, Detroit Free Press
Fresh
Ebouaney is easily the best thing about this import.
Glenn Lovell, San Jose Mercury News
Fresh
An engrossing film that attempts to unearth a dark period of African history and the short-lived tenure of Lumumba's power.
Marta Barber, Miami Herald
Fresh
The vividness of the figures and situations whets the appetite.
Eric Harrison, Houston Chronicle
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