Operation Leopard
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57% Critic Match

Operation Leopard

5.7 / 10 1980 1h 36mNR French
War

Storyline

In May 1978, the mining town of Kolwezi in Katanga, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo, the former Belgian Congo) is under attack from a group of communist guerillas coming from nearby Angola. The Europeans who work for the Belgian mining company and the Blacks who live in the town are taken as hostages by the invaders, who start a blood bath, shooting Europeans as well as Africans. Many of the Europeans being French, the French decide to organize a counter-attack, and to send a Regiment of Paratroopers from the Foreign Legion. The movie follows the stories of Delbart, a former non-commissioned officer, who was about to go back to France with his African wife and his child, Damrémont, who was Delbart's replacement, Bia, a Zairian doctor, and Annie, an American married to a Belgian engineer as well as Non com Legion officer Federico and the French Ambassador and the Military Attaché.

Cast & Crew

Bruno Cremer

Bruno Cremer

Pierre Delbart

Lead
Mimsy Farmer

Mimsy Farmer

Annie

Jacques Perrin

Jacques Perrin

L'ambassadeur Berthier

Giuliano Gemma

Giuliano Gemma

Adjudant-chef Federico

Laurent Malet

Laurent Malet

Damrémont

Pierre Vaneck

Pierre Vaneck

Colonel Grasser

Jean-Claude Bouillon

Jean-Claude Bouillon

Maurois

GE

Gérard Essomba

Bia Kombo

What People Are Saying

3.0
A staggering achievement of craft and ambition. Raoul Coutard's vision lands with breathtaking precision.
Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
3.0
Every frame feels alive. Operation Leopard is the rare release that takes its audience seriously.
Anthony Lane, The New Yorker