The film follows the exploits of the French mercenary
Bob Denard in the Congo between 1964 and 1967. The story begins in July 1967 with Denard who has just staged a rebellion against President
Joseph-Désiré Mobutu of the Congo giving a rousing speech to his mercenaries while looking worried when he reads a message from Paris. Denard and his men are engaged in heavy fighting against the
Armée Nationale Congolaise and Denard is wounded. In a delirious state, Denard flash-backs to 1964 when he was hired by the French intelligence service, the
Service de Documentation Extérieure et de Contre-Espionnage (SDECE), to go to the Congo to fight for the pro-Western Premier
Moïse Tshombe, who has just lost control of the entire eastern half of the Congo to the leftwing
Simba rebellion supported by Cuba and China. Denard is bored with civilian life in Paris, and embraces the chance to go to Congo to have some adventure. There is much distrust between the members of the
Katangese Gendarmerie who have returned from exile with Tshombe and their former enemies in the
Armée Nationale Congolaise led by Mobutu who are uneasily fighting together against the Simbas. Denard and his mercenaries defeat the Simbas while being greatly resented by general Mobutu who knows that the decision to hire European mercenaries is an adverse comment upon his military competence. The Simbas have committed terrible atrocities and Denard and his mercenaries find scenes of carnage everywhere they go, being greeted with quiet relief. Denard marries a Congolese nurse, Marie-Elise, whom he has rescued from the Simbas. Denard chooses to stay in the Congo after the Simba revolt is put down, and earns the respect though not the trust of Mobutu after he tells him that he wants to train the
Armée Nationale Congolaise up to European standards. Denard is both fascinated with and repulsed by Mobutu, a man of great charisma and charm who is utterly ruthless and amoral. Denard finds himself caught in a conflict between the followers of Tshombe and Mobutu, which to a certain extent is also a proxy struggle between the SDECE which supports Tshombe and the CIA which supports Mobutu. In November 1965, Mobutu takes power in a coup. In July 1966, the former members of the Katangese Gendarmerie led by Colonel Sango revolt against Mobutu while Denard tries to stay neutral. After the mutiny is put down, Mobutu has Sango and the other mutineers gruesomely executed. A SDECE agent tells Denard that Paris has decided that Mobutu is a liability for French interests because of his plans to nationalise the assets of the European-owned
Union Minière company and the French are planning to restore Tshombe. Denard has an uneasy relationship with Mobutu, which worsens when he learns that Mobutu takes it as his right to sleep with the wives of his officers, being informed that this is an old custom of the Ngbandi kings that Mobutu has revived. Mobutu's insistence that he be allowed to have sex with Marie-Elise reflects his increasing megalomania and sultanistic tendencies as he insists that everything and everyone in the Congo belongs to him. At a party, Denard pulls Marie-Elise away from Mobutu as he leads her towards his bedroom to the rage of the president. Eventually, Denard together with the Belgian mercenary/planter
Jean Schramme discover that Mobutu is planning their executions and decide to revolt to restore Tshombe with a promise of support from the governments of France and Belgium . Denard launches his revolt in 1967 and then learns the French and Belgians have withdrawn their support at the last minute owing to American objections, leaving him to face the
Armée Nationale Congolaise alone. Denard fights on, but his men are defeated as the promised supplies of ammunition failed to arrive. Denard and his mercenaries are forced to retreat into Rwanda. As the film ends, Denard observes that there will be more wars in Africa and hence more work for men like him. ==Production==