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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

67
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86
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84
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83
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83
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83
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82
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
82
Sugar
82
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82
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
81
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81
Beaches of Agnes, The
80
Food, Inc.
80
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79
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78
Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
78
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77
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77
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75
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74
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74
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74
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74
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74
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71
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71
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70
Shall We Kiss?
70
Tony Manero
70
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69
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69
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67
$9.99
67
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67
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66
Adoration
66
Moon
65
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65
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64
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64
Examined Life
64
Throw Down Your Heart
64
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63
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63
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63
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63
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62
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56
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54
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54
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54
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52
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50
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48
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45
Whatever Works
42
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42
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40
Limits of Control, The
40
Paris 36
38
Gigantic
36
Life is Hot in Cracktown
35
New York
28
Big Shot-Caller, The
28
Surveillance
22
What Goes Up
18
Downloading Nancy
16
I Hate Valentine's Day
xx
Call of the Wild
xx
Home
xx
Offshore
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Lumumba
Zeitgeist Films
MPAA RATING: Not Rated
Starring
Eriq Ebouaney,
Alex Descas,
Théophile Sowie,
Maka Kotto,
and
Mariam Kaba
At the Berlin Conference of 1885, Europe divided up the African continent. The Congo became the personal property of King Leopold II of Belgium. On June 30, 1960, a young self-taught nationalist, Patrice Lumumba, became, at age 36, the first head of government of the new independent state. He would last two months in office. (Zeitgeist Films)
| GENRE(S): |
Suspense/Thriller
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Pascal Bonitzer
Raoul Peck
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Raoul Peck
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: October 22, 2002
Video: October 22, 2002
Theatrical: June 27, 2001
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
115 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
France / Belgium / Germany / Haiti |
| LANGUAGE(S): |
French (with English subtitles) |

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
Baltimore Sun
Michael Sragow
Lumumba revives the tradition of Pontecorvo's "The Battle of Algiers" and Costa-Gavras' "Z" and "State of Siege." In substance and excitement, it joins their ranks.
91
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
What matters now, what Lumumba conveys, is the urgent chaos of revolution.

90
The New York Times
A.O. Scott
Mr. Peck's gambit works, and the result is a great film and a great performance.

90
LA Weekly
Ella Taylor
Genuine thriller -- with one crisis hurtling after another, heightened by hauntingly brief moments of peace.

90
Los Angeles Times
Kenneth Turan
Lumumba is potent stuff. Complex, powerful, intensely dramatic.

89
Austin Chronicle
Marc Savlov
As fluid and intellectually stimulating as the man himself, a tragic, heartfelt take on an event some 40 years old that feels as fresh as yesterday's Times.

80
Variety
Deborah Young
An impassioned, at times thrilling re-creation of the birth of the country that became Zaire and is now known as Congo again.

80
New Times (L.A.)
Andy Klein
From the start, a comprehensible, if necessarily simplified, sense of an extremely complicated moment in history.
80
Mr. Showbiz
Kevin Maynard
There's nothing more incendiary than the reopening of a forgotten chapter of history --nothing more incendiary than telling the truth.
75
Boston Globe
Jay Carr
Structural shortcomings and all -- gives a neglected giant of African independence his due.
75
New York Daily News
Jami Bernard
Gives a white-knuckled, you-are-there account of a politician's dilemma, one whose repercussions are still felt in Africa.
75
Chicago Tribune
Michael Wilmington
The film does succeed in making the story universal, giving us the drama as well as the history, the fire as well as cool examination. It's a movie that haunts you afterward.
75
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
William Arnold
Writer/director Raoul Peck never gives us enough intimate moments to let us feel we know the man on a personal level, and he doesn't have the narrative skill to economize the necessary exposition or steer a clear storyline.

75
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
Although the narration is addressed to his wife, we learn little about her, his family or his personal life; he is used primarily as a guide through the milestones of the Congo's brief two-month experiment with democracy.

75
Philadelphia Inquirer
Steven Rea
Betrayal is at the heart of this story, but also dreams of liberty and a life where all people are treated with respect.

75
Miami Herald
Marta Barber
The story is worth telling, one that begs the question: Has anything changed?

70
TV Guide
Maitland McDonagh
Utterly enthralling even for viewers unfamiliar with the Congo's complicated political history.

70
Village Voice
J. Hoberman
As cliché-rich as it is compelling.

67
Portland Oregonian
Shawn Levy
The film is masterful in many ways, and brilliantly acted by its lead player, Eriq Ebouaney, but it's often overly dense and fast with information, background and ideas.
63
New York Post
Jonathan Foreman
Never much more than hagiography that lets the context of its hero's death remain confused.

63
San Francisco Chronicle
Wesley Morris
The film feels like bare- bones docu-fiction, though, resisting the attendant drama until the bitter, grisly end.

60
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
The movie is visually stirring. And the locations, in Zimbabwe and Mozambique, imbue the story with eerie authenticity.


The average user rating for this movie is 9.6 (out of 10) based on 13 User Votes
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