Quelques jours en avril

I have just seen the movie, and for a young person, I was genuinely touched by the substance of this movie. 11 years ago, at the age of the 10, these acts of genocide completely washed over me, and I, like many others just summed it up to yet another tragedy, but I never put it upon myself to learn the history of why this genocide happened. Why there was such conflict in this nation. Seeing this movie, however, has opened my eyes a lot, compelling me to find out more about the history of this nation and the reason behind such hateful violence. This movie did not attempt to gloss over the details, to sell a story. It tried to encapsulate the essence of that time, and the ramifications it had on survivors years later. In 2:30 hours, I feel as if the director and the actors themselves, did a superb job in basically summarizing the events of this tragedy, enough for a person to get a gist of why it happened. Only with a knowledge of history and research would one really know the whole story, but all in all, I found it to be a very poignant movie.

"Sometimes in April" attempts to tell the story of the 1994 wholesale slaughter of about 800,000 mostly innocent people during the 100 day national ordeal when the top blew off the powder keg which Rwanda, Africa had become. This film of civil war and genocide focuses on one man, Augustin (Elba), a Rwandan soldier and his extended family as it jumps around in location and time using his story to connect the dots. Although this HBO docudrama makes a satisfactory dramatic watch, is asks more questions than it answers and leaves one wondering, among other things, how it is possible that so many helpless and innocent people could be savagely murdered by their own countrymen. The historical background and Rwandan zeitgeist are not sufficiently presented but the brutality of the horrific genocide perpetrated by the Hutus upon the Tutsis and Hutu moderates, stands out in bold relief. Snapshots of US State Department bureaucrat Prudence Bushnell's (Winger) frustration with her own government's slow reaction to the crisis and the seemingly inadequate UN war crimes tribunals only hint at the problems associated with intervention in civil strife and prosecution of war criminals. Overall, the film is a worthwhile entertaining and educational watch with language, violence, sex/rape thoughtfully maintained at a level which would probably yield about a PG-13 rating. (B)

What I'm about to say is as controversial as this film. Just like many times in the past the events of Rawanda shows the true nature of man-kinds ability to demean a group or sub-group to such a level that to take the life of a woman or child bares no moral consequence. What about the lives of hundreds of thousands women and children? By broadcasting racial propaganda against the Tutsis the Hutus were able to use the assassination of their President as a springboard for hate and genocide towards the Tutsis Rwanda citizens. Hate of another racial, religious or political group or sub-group is the most used method of control throughout human history. By classifying the term "Cock-Roaches" towards the Tutsis the Hutus were able to see them as less than human making murder more acceptable and without moral consequence.

This movie touched me deeply because it showed the true unforgiving brutality of man with very few moments of sincere sympathy towards the cause of the oppressed. Which is the reality of it all. The Beurocracy of the United Nations headed by the US is as much to blame for the Rwanda tragedy as the murdering Hutus which the film every so slightly portrays in its ending. It also shows its glaring hypocrisy in the face of the UN's most recent intrusions. But this film isn't about political finger pointing its about giving First World Society a vision of the Truth. The Atrocities of Rwanda I would hope more than anything put into perspective the world around us and how everything isn't just the peaches and cream that fills most of our daily lives. No matter what hardships we have been through NONE of them compare to what happened to the Tutsie in 94 or the Jews and Chinese in WWII.

The movie ends with a heart-felt message to "Never Forget". But we will. It is the only thing we can do. To accept the tragedy for what it is as something that truly goes on in this world and will inevitably happen again if Political Propaganda so determines it to be beneficial would mean the end of society's self delusional security. If we were a moral race of beings we would of already taken steps to make sure Rwanda would never happen again in ours nor our children's children's lifetimes. But we haven't. And we won't.

I became interested in the Rwanda genocide after viewing PBS's broadcast "Ghosts of Rwanda" (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ghosts/) and reading Lt. Gen. Roméo Dallaire's book "Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda". Both (particularly Dallaire's work) effected me so deeply that I was pleased when first "Sometimes in April" and later "Hotel Rwanda" came to the screen, so that the Rwanda tragedy would achieve greater attention. But I am still waiting for a definitive screen presentation of the genocide, one that shows its full evil, one that allows no one responsible to escape, one that underlines heroism in a season in hell, and one that scars the viewer so greatly the the phrase "never again" has true meaning.

"Sometimes in April" is laudable in that the genocide is depicted in individual human terms. It allows us to know both victims and predators. But it fails in explaining how very human characters became murderers. And it glides over the complicity of the French, the failure of the UN to support its mission, and the failure of the West (not just the US) to intervene.

I recommend this movie as a starting point. I found it far more poignant than "Hotel Rwanda". But I am still waiting for movie justice to be done to this tragedy.

I saw this last evening at a screening here in LA. I was extremely moved by the content and the way everything was shown. Having it filmed in Rwanda made a big difference. In 1994, I was 14 years old and I honestly did not hear anything about the genocide until 1999 when I was in college and studied it in my Ethnic and Minority Issues class. I was amazed to learn even more from this film. The acting was remarkable. Before the screening a historian talked about the genocide and then the director addressed the audience. His passion for this project was clear, and I think that having it on HBO gave him a lot of artistic freedom I highly recommend seeing this film just for educational value...you will come away impressed and contemplative.