'LUMUMBA' ILLUMINATES THE AFRICAN STRUGGLE.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic

Patrice Lumumba has gone down in history as the iconic martyr of African independence. Crushed by a toxic combination of local rivalries and international skulduggery a mere two months after becoming the Congo's first prime minister in 1960 and brutally assassinated a few months later, the charismatic orator has represented the dashed hopes of post-colonial Africa ever since.

The straightforward, docudrama approach Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck takes to his meticulously staged ``Lumumba'' makes for a politically complex, historically informative feature. But the step-by-step re-creation of Congo's brief dalliance with freedom and hard fall into dictatorship doesn't leave a lot of room for revealing much about the man behind the myth - nor, for that matter, the revolutionary who was father to the politician.

Lumumba's rise, as well as that of his social consciousness, from provincial beer salesman to the colony's leading independence figure is curiously rushed, especially in comparison with the time Peck lavishes on tribal, regional and other internecine conflicts that plague his dream state's infancy. Maybe that's because the filmmaker has a background in government himself, having served an unhappy two-year stint as Haiti's culture minister.

And that, perhaps, also explains the film's great strength: the obsessive detailing of Lumumba's governing woes. While sometimes repetitious and arcane, this information, presented with meticulous historic re-creation, draws an indelible portrait of how a young nation can be turned into a civic basket case - a condition which Congo, unfortunately, wallows in to this day.

Filmed mostly in Mozambique and Zimbabwe, the French-language film stars the appropriately magnetic Eriq Ebouaney as the doomed statesman. He's addictively watchable, with a winning smile for the early speechifying, negotiating and electioneering and an increasingly tragic grandeur as former overlord Belgium, communist-fearing America and breakaway province Katanga put on the squeeze from inside, out and even above. (Those who were around at the time probably remember the ``helpful'' assistance of the Belgian paratroopers who really only returned to assist European mining interests.)

Alex Descas as Joseph Mobutu, in the movie's other great performance, pops up sporadically to counterpoint Lumumba's agony. The idealistic journalist turned military honcho who would eventually plunder Congo for more than three decades as autocratic Mobutu Sese Seko seems, in Descas' subtly calibrated performance, as surprised as his friend and longtime ally by how thoroughly he can come to resent and betray Lumumba. Surely, Mobutu was despicable, but one wishes Peck and Ebouaney would have gotten half of the ambiguity into the portrayal of Lumumba that Descas gave to his work. Martyred or not, the departed Patrice surely did not seek power for purely altruistic reasons, but this film admires him too much to suggest otherwise.

Although too often restricted, by budget, to talking about major events, the picture comes to rattling life when depicting key moments. Lumumba's righteous, aggrieved riposte to the Belgian king's condescending independence-day speech is stirring. The depictions of the republic's early slide toward anarchy - including the vicious revenge taken on remaining white settlers - puts the new regime's nobler notions in stark, realpolitik relief. And the agonizing torture, murder and dismemberment of Lumumba is graphically and suitably painful to watch.

``LUMUMBA''

(Not rated: violence, language)

The stars: Eriq Ebouaney, Alex Descas, Maka Kotto.

Behind the scenes: Directed by Raoul Peck. Written by Peck and Pascal Bonitzer. Produced by Jacques Bidou. Released by Zeitgeist Films.

Running time: One hour, 55 minutes.

Playing: Playhouse 7, Pasadena; Music Hall, Beverly Hills.

Our rating: Three stars

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

Eriq Ebouaney stars in the title role of ``Lumumba.''