Shake Hands with the Devil

As a Belgian I had a particular interest in watching this movie. I personally know some paracommando's that were there, they told me about the tragedy, about their fustration no to be able to do anything about it, and that mostly due to the incompetence and/or indifference of the decision makers. It's difficult to blame someone specific for this genocide, a genocide that could have been avoid if somebody had some balls to stand up and do something about it. Belgian, French, or American governments should have done something about it, instead they closed their eyes on this tragedy as there is nothing to gain for them in Rwanda, it's a thing that would cost a lot of money and they wouldn't benefit in any way by doing something about it, so letting this genocide happen whilst the whole world was watching is just criminal. Belgium commemorates the ten paracommando's that have been butchered there, they should be ashamed of themselves, how much more hypocritical can a government be? That said the movie is well made, with good acting and solid cinematography. It's a very hard story to watch, almost unbearable when you know what happened there in such a short period. If this would have happened in any other rich country the world would have yelled 'justice' but it's only Rwanda so we close our eyes or look the other way.

This is lesson 2, after lesson 1 (Hotel Rwanda) on the history of a country I know very little about. But that does not matter. Rwanda in 1994 was a stage on which we witnessed the triumph of the dark side of humanity, and the failure of a world body called UN.

As a film, 'Shake Hands with the Devil' was not rated as good as 'Hotel Rwanda' by the film critics. I tend to agree with this assessment. However, it was shot on location in Rwanda with many locals participating in the film. The acting in films was reasonably well done and the overall story telling convincing.

The film moved me enough to make me ponder other scenarios: what if General Dallaire took things into his own hands and started firing his weapons, instead of just passively observing the killing and rape? And what if the UN had a change of heart and decided to get further involved instead of backing out? How many lives could have been saved, and how that would have changed the Rwanda as we know it now?

In short, this film makes me think. And for this reason alone it is well worth my time.

Rarely do I watch a movie and get physically affected by it. Crash made tears well, Shake Hands with the Devil made me weep. It made me sick with anguish and sorrow. This movie is the most powerful movie I have ever seen. It's hard to soften the subject matter of this movie, the systematic extermination of nearly a million people, the inaction by the world at large, the plight of a broken soul. "Shake Hands with the Devil" succeeds in bring to light the events that occurred in April, 1994 in the small African nation, as seen through the eyes of Gen. Romeo D'Allaire. Throughout the film we see graphic images of the atrocities that occurred in Rwanda, from dismembered corpses to severed arms, legs, and heads. Rotting piles of bodies on the roadsides and men, women, and children being hacked up in the streets. This movie is not a fun time for anybody. This movie isn't fun. It's depressing. Very, very depressing. I think this is a movie that every single person should see. So that, as Romeo says, No one ever forgets April, 1994 in Rwanda. This movie is deserving of a nomination for an Oscar, it is the best Canadian film I have seen since "Bon Cop Bad Cop".

In the end of 1993, the Canadian General Romeo Dallaire (Roy Dupuis) is assigned to lead the United Nation troops in Rwanda. In 1994, when the genocide of the Tutsis by the Hutus begins, General Dallaire gives his best effort to help the poor black people in Rwanda, inclusive negotiating with the Tutsi rebels, the Hutu army and the Interhamwe militia. However, he fights against bureaucracy and lack of interest from the United Nations and witnesses the West World ignoring and turning back any sort of support, inclusive USA opposing in the security council of UN to any type of help.

The story of the genocide in Rwanda was first seen in the cinema through the magnificent "Hotel Rwanda" (2004), telling the life of Paul Rusesabagina, one anonymous hero and manager of the Milles Collines Hotel of Kigali; then, in "Shooting Dogs" (2005) that tells the story of the Catholic priest Christopher and the idealistic English teacher Joe Connor; then in "Un Dimanche à Kigali" (2006) focused in the romance of a Canadian journalist and a Tutsi waitress. Now these movies are complemented by the less emotive "Shake Hands with the Devil" that tells the same story, but now through the eyes and heart of the Canadian General Romeo Dallaire trapped in the indifference of the UN. It is amazing the line of General Dallaire when he says that for the UN, "genocide is when there are cargo trains, concentration camps, and gas chambers". I imagine how frustrated this general might have been seeing the slaughter of defenseless human beings having to follows bureaucratic and political orders from his superiors. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "História de um Massacre" ("History of a Massacre")

Based on the book by the same title, Shake Hands with the Devil chronicles the horrendous experiences of Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire of the Canadian Forces, who headed up the 1994 United Nations peacekeeping force in Rwanda during the outbreak of that country's genocidal civil war between rival Hutus and Tutsis.

Directed by Roger Spottiswoode, this Canadian production, filmed on location in Rwanda, serves as a scathing indictment of humanity in general, and the UN in particular, for turning a blind eye to the human carnage that took place in the former Belgian colony.

Hamstrung by UN orders not to interfere, his men given virtually no ammunition and instructed to only fire if fired upon, the movie chronicles the events that left Dallaire, a once proud and hardened career military officer, broken and teetering on the edge of a nervous breakdown.

Unlike 2004's Hotel Rwanda, which chronicled the same events through the smaller story of Paul Rusesabagina, the manager a Kigali Hotel, Shake Hands with the Devil approaches the Rwandan tragedy from a broader perspective, with mixed results. While Spottiswoode places the focus on Dallaire's experiences, which range from playing military goodwill ambassador, to struggling to find ways to protect the innocent, and playing dancing pony to insulated and indifferent UN mandarins, the scope is somewhat too broad leaving the viewer feeling like an outsider looking at a holocaust from a distance, and through bullet-proof glass. UN officials as well as diplomats from France and the US are given cursory walk-ons, with little character development nor insight into their short-sighted actions. Instead, the audience is almost expected to approach this film with prior background knowledge about events leading up to the genocide. Without trying to appear insensitive, as a viewer, a better result might have been yielded if some of the copious screen time devoted to images of Dallaire and his men wading through bodies had instead been given to a closer examination of the motives (or lack thereof) behind the Rwandan abandonment on the part the UN and its principal movers and shakers.

On the plus side, Dupuis' portrayal of Dallaire is among the most eerily accurate renditions by an actor in quite some time. Not only do the two share a striking resemblance, but Dupuis seems to almost become the General in every aspect of his being. As a Canadian familiar with the sight of Dallaire in news reports and interviews, Dupuis' performance is nothing short of impressive.

Though flawed, Shake Hands with the Devil is still a powerful and must see film. As Dallaire himself says to his men, "we will stay to bear witness to that which the world does not want to see". If nothing else, that alone is reason enough to make time for this film.