LUMUMBA A Hit in Toronto
Raoul Peck’s biopic Lumumba is being screened in several Canadian cities. It opened at the Carlton Cinema in Toronto on August 17 to rave reviews and a nasty piece of anti-Communist propaganda.
Overall the Toronto critics give thumbs up to Peck’s instant classic. The weekly Eye's’critic Jason Anderson gave Peck three stars, as did the other weekly NOW’s critic Cameron Bailey. The national newspaper The Globe and Mail that represents Canada’s business interests gave Lumumba three stars and its movie critic Liam Lacy generally heaped praise on Peck’s film. He was especially high on Eric Ebouaney who portrayed Lumumba.
The Toronto Star’s critic Peter Goodard was generally favorable about the film but thought Oliver Stone or, if you’re ready for this—Spike Lee could have done a better job than Peck. Says Goodard, “For better or worse, Peck is no Oliver Stone nor even a Spike Lee, another director who can make a mountain of a molehill of suspicions”.
Meanwhile, Canada’s leading media mogul Conrad Black’s, former newspaper the National Post ran a glowing review of Lumumba by the Chicago-based Roger Ebert. However besides the positive review they printed a not so positive article by Isabel Vincent.
According to Vincent, Lumumba was “no friend of Canada”. In an article “Congolese Revolutionary’s Dark Side” published in the August 11,2001 issue of the National Post Vincent attempts to murder Lumumba again. In fact, her article could have been titled, "The Second Assassination Of Patrice Lumumba”. Says Vincent; “While he sought to unite Congo in the chaotic days after its independence from Belgium in June, 1960, Mr. Lumumba was a brutal, Machiavellian strategist and Soviet puppet, who was responsible for thousands of deaths during the few months he served as prime minister.”
It gets worse. She quotes from a forthcoming book Canada and UN Peacekeeping: Cold War by Other Means, 1945-1979 by Sean Maloney. Says Vincent, During his research, Mr. Maloney found that on a state visit to Ottawa, Mr. Lumumba, a notorious womanizer, asked Howard Green, then External Affairs Minister in the government of John Diefenbaker, for prostitutes to be delivered to his hotel room.” Maybe John F.Kennedy was traveling with Lumumba. Kennedy was accused of making a “Booty Call” or two during his lifetime.
The manager of the Carlton Cinema Brian Sawler is pleased with the business. Tuesday August 20th, which is a reduced price of $6, was sold right out. The arts theatre holds about 150. It is scheduled for a two week run but it looks like it will be extended. Before Lumumba officially opened it was previewed by Toronto’s new urban radio station Flow 93.5 and Word Magazine the Urban Cultural Magazine.
Norman (Otis) Richmond can be reached by e-mail [email protected]