This entry was posted on Saturday, September 29th, 2007 at 9:13 pm and is filed under Drama, Movie Reviews, NEW ON VIDEO, S, True Stories, War. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Director: Roger Spottiswoode
Starring: Roy Dupuis, James Gallanders, Owen Lebakeng Sejake, Deborah Kara Unger
Canadian Lt. General Romeo Dallaire was the military commander of the UN mission in Rwanda and this movie is his personal, and all too true, story of his time there during the genocide of 1994. It is not quite as moving as the similarily-themed Hotel Rwanda, but is also less geared toward formula drama and emotional manipulation, though this feature is still pretty grim and upsetting. The direction is slightly surreal and the acting is quite good, though I found Dupuis to be just a little too wooden (just a little over that line between stoic and wooden) in the lead role. It suffers a little from being virtually a one man show, with Dupuis’ lead character being the focus of virtually every scene but there is no denying the power and importance of this film.
Romeo Dallaire is a very brave, and equally honest, man and that is really what makes this film work. He is not afraid to show his human emotions and frailties, and this makes his courageous effort to save lives during The Rwandan genocide, at no small personal risk, all that more impressive. This film carefully documents the beginnings of the atrocity and fearlessly lays blame. Dallaire’s helplessness is enveloping and we feel his frustration in the face of ever-increasing shortages of men and equipment that leave him unable to do more than watch many of the atrocities.
This was a difficult film to watch and will be for most viewers. How can we watch this without a twinge of guilt? Almost one million people died in Rwanda in 100 days and the world knew about it and did nothing. All of us did nothing. A small group tried to help, led by a very special individual. This is his story. See it.
