Lumumba (Special Edition)

Starring:Eriq Ebouaney, Alex Descas, ThÃ©ophile SowiÃ©, Maka Kotto, DieudonnÃ© Kabongo, Pascal N'Zonzi, AndrÃ© Debaar, Cheik DoukourÃ©, Makena Diop, Mariam Kaba, Rudi Delhem, Francis Adam, Alain BouillÃ©, Mata Gabin, Edgar Henri Mato, Den Thatcher, Paul Tingay
Director: Raoul Peck
Studio: Zeitgeist Films
Product Type: DVD

Description

Made in the tradition of such true-life political thrillers as MALCOLM X and JFK, Raoul Peck's award-winning LUMUMBA is a gripping epic that dramatizes for the first time the rise and fall of legendary African leader Patrice Lumumba. When the Congo declared its independence from Belgium in 1960, the 36-year-old, self-educated Lumumba became the first Prime Minister of the newly independent state. Called "the politico of the bush" by journalists of the day, he became a lightning rod of Cold War politics as his vision of a united Africa gained him powerful enemies in Belgium and the U.S. Lumumba would last just months in office before being brutally assassinated. Strikingly photographed in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Belgium as civil war once again raged in the Congo, the film vividly re-creates the shocking events behind the birth of the country that became Zaire during the reign of Lumumba's former friend and eventual nemesis, Joseph Mobutu. This version features the film with its original French dialogue and English subtitles.

Customer Reviews:

Lumumba.......2007-05-08

At the least this film is a cold shower to your heart & soul, to stir & aliven your sensory skills, to the awareness of families strengthened by power of love and intense sacrifices. The unspoken "brothers" that laid themselves at the altar of sacrifice, knowing full well they may shortlive seeing the fruition of their convictive destiny. It brings insight to the book, "Bloods," by a Cornell fellow. Lumumba, brought me insight into the realm above my own quagmire haze of short perspective and into understanding of the price of cause greater than self.
This man was a true "Drum Major," as MLK, Jr. put it in excerpt speech.
Let Lumumbas glimpse of freedom and libertad resound and renew the power of the upcoming generations of the infinate lasting power of love...
If you learn of this man, you will know why one will remeber him!
Respectfully..

A part of African history everyone should know about.......2005-01-25

I enjoyed this movie very much. Accoring to most available literature, this movie is historically accurate. Peck is a well respected director and seems to have done a good job presenting the truth. Lumumba is an icon in African history and he represents the hope and optimism of post-colonial Africa. His death was a tragedy and it leads us to wonder "What if...". This is an important chapter in modern African history and we are lucky that such a well-made movie has helped tell this story to the world.

PS. Frank Carlucci's (the second secretary in the U.S. embassy in Kinshasa at the time) name is bleeped out in some versions because his lawyers pressured the film's distributors to remove all reference to him. He of course denies involvement in the assassination of Lumumba. Peck has stated that he has strong reason to believe his movie to be accurate.

"We thought we controlled our destiny.".......2004-12-31

Haitian director, Raoul Peck's film "Lumumba" charts the life of revolutionary Patrice Lumumba from the time he first steps into politics in the Belgium-ruled colony of Congo until his untimely death in January 1961 at the age of 35. Lumumba's story is startling. He served as the first elected prime minister in the newly independent Congo for a period of two short months before he was murdered.

The story of Lumumba's early political career is extremely weak. It's unclear how and why he entered politics or why, within a few scenes, he is rousted from home and thrown in prison where he rots for 6 months. The film covers some obviously strategic political moments (Lumumba's speech) but there are huge gaps--especially when concerning Lumumba's early political involvement. After the elections, it's also unclear what devious schemes are going on behind Lumumba's back. The country is in chaos, and Lumumba cannot control it, but the film fails to address Lumumba's politics in a meaningful way. And this is more than unfortunate as events, responsibility, etc. remain rather muddy.

About half way through the film, the Russians and the CIA begin meddling in Congo's affairs. The story becomes very interesting, and suddenly the details of exactly who opposes who are not so important anymore. Apparently, the director's cut for this film was 3 hours. My DVD version was 115 minutes. In the final analysis, it's very unfortunate that scenes of the wife hanging out laundry, and the child posing for photos were included in the film while much more relevant (and clarifying details) were ignored. In 1992, Raoul Peck made the documentary film: "Lumumba: Death of a Prophet." Given the scope and complexity of Lumumba's story, the pure documentary film is probably the better approach. "Lumumba", in French with English subtitles, offered fine acting, and splendid sets, but was too thin on the substance--displacedhuman

Important subject matter, a bit hard to follow.......2004-06-19

I would recommend this film, but couched in the warning that I found it a bit hard to follow. There are a lot of characters - the various political figures - and sometimes it's hard to keep them all straight. It's definitely important subject matter though - an interesting glimpse into the colonial forces that shaped modern Africa and the struggles that continue today in many of its troubled nations.

Gripping, not just about Zaire/Congo. DVD quality moderate........2004-05-02

Although it's quite likely that some artistic liberty has been taken with the facts, I viewed this with my "general state of affairs of colonialized African countries" goggles.

In that regard, it's a gripping tale that shows some of the horrible footprints left behind by colonialism mixed with other pre-existing tribal aspects of the local societies, not to mention the Cold War. That indictment is what stood out when I watched it, and it's eye-opening for those who've not lived in Africa.

Since this is a review of the DVD, and not just the movie, my only disappointment is that those of us with HDTV/widescreen capable TVs/projectors will notice the poor quality of this DVD. I watched Lumumba for the first time at a film festival a couple of years ago, and was looking forward to having a good quality copy on DVD.

Unfortunately, it's been *letterboxed* to shrink the widescreen format into a 4:3 frame. I wish they had used a true anamorphic widescreen transfer that would make fuller use of a 16:9 aspect ratio/resolution. In that sense the cover text "luminous new widescreen transfer" is misleading.

Description

Customer Reviews:

Lumumba.......2007-05-08

A part of African history everyone should know about.......2005-01-25

"We thought we controlled our destiny.".......2004-12-31

Important subject matter, a bit hard to follow.......2004-06-19

Gripping, not just about Zaire/Congo. DVD quality moderate........2004-05-02

Although it's quite likely that some artistic liberty has been taken with the facts, I viewed this with my "general state of affairs of colonialized African countries" goggles.

Product Description

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 Belgium 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.

Customer Reviews:

NOT THE 180-MINUTE VERSION!!!.......2007-06-24

Despite what it says in the Amazon.com advertisement, this DVD is NOT the full 180-minute version of "Lumumba." In fact, at 109 minutes, this version is actually six minutes shorter than the "Special Edition," (also Region 1), that is listed at 115 minutes. The sleeve for this version also claims to have an English-language soundtrack, but it does not. It does have English-language subtitles to go with the French soundtrack, however. The sleeve for this version claims that it its aspect ration is 1:2.35, but that does not appear to be true, either--the aspect ratio appears to be 1:1.85, the same as the Special Edition. Because the Special Edition contains many extras--including excepts from R. Peck's excellent documentary "Lumumba: Death of a Prophet," it is clearly the better choice for anyone who wants to purchase a DVD of this film right now. Ideally, however, we should press for a release of the full 3-hour version of this film, preferably packaged together with the FULL documentary "Lumumba: Death of a Prophet." Now THAT would be a package worth paying extra for! The 2 stars above reflect the several misrepresentations associated with this particular DVD release, not the film itself, which is very good, albeit in this version in an unnecessarily truncated form.

Average customer rating:

Dimepiece Workout, Vol. 1
Starring: Fallon Buckner , Candice Greenup , and Reagan Griller
Director: Lumumba Moulton , Craig Carter , and Abraham Johnson
Manufacturer: Ent. Solutions
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Binding: DVD

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Average customer rating:

Lumumba
A part of African history everyone should know about
"We thought we controlled our destiny."
Important subject matter, a bit hard to follow
Gripping, not just about Zaire/Congo. DVD quality moderate.

Lumumba
Starring: Eriq Ebouaney , Alex Descas , Théophile Sowié , Maka Kotto , and Dieudonné Kabongo
Director: Raoul Peck
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( L ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00005JJYW

Customer Reviews:

Lumumba.......2007-05-08

A part of African history everyone should know about.......2005-01-25

"We thought we controlled our destiny.".......2004-12-31

Important subject matter, a bit hard to follow.......2004-06-19

Gripping, not just about Zaire/Congo. DVD quality moderate........2004-05-02

Although it's quite likely that some artistic liberty has been taken with the facts, I viewed this with my "general state of affairs of colonialized African countries" goggles.

Customer Reviews:

Save Your Money.......2003-12-01

This was the worst workout DVD I've ever seen!! Very Unprofessional. The Voiceover didn't match the instructors lips. The instructor had a monotone voice with no motivation to match and she looked like a man. Never would I want a body like hers. The two of the four girls in the background were more focused on fixing their hair opposed to working out, the third girl was anorexic and needed to eat instead of exercise, the fourth girl was actually in-tune with the instructor, but the camera was rarely focused on her. Very Disappointing, Save your money unless you like bootleg videos by Master P, as this is produced by Kane and Able, former members of Master P's clique.

Average customer rating:

Lumumba
A part of African history everyone should know about
"We thought we controlled our destiny."
Important subject matter, a bit hard to follow
Gripping, not just about Zaire/Congo. DVD quality moderate.

Lumumba [Region 2]
Starring: Eriq Ebouaney , Alex Descas , Théophile Sowié , Maka Kotto , and Dieudonné Kabongo
Director: Raoul Peck
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( L ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Sometimes in April
Life And Debt
Frontline: Ghosts of Rwanda
Xala
Amandla!: A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony

ASIN: B00005LL17

Customer Reviews:

Lumumba.......2007-05-08

A part of African history everyone should know about.......2005-01-25

"We thought we controlled our destiny.".......2004-12-31

Important subject matter, a bit hard to follow.......2004-06-19

Gripping, not just about Zaire/Congo. DVD quality moderate........2004-05-02

Although it's quite likely that some artistic liberty has been taken with the facts, I viewed this with my "general state of affairs of colonialized African countries" goggles.

At least the Special Edition is subtitled, and not dubbed or censored (from what I've read of the other version), so that's one plus for this specific edition of the DVD.

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