Sometimes in April
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Movie Reviews of Sometimes in April
Movie Review: A terrible story told well in fictional allegory
Summary: 5 Stars
Here is a truth-based and fictionalized account of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda told through the eyes of a soldier turned victim who lost almost everything including his family.
The term "heart wrenching" probably applies more adequately to this film than any I have seen in recent years, even a real life documentary on the origins of AIDS, for this movie details the real affect of 1 million deaths in the small African nation that occured during a span of less than a year.
As well as showing the human toll through the actors and the homeland -- this film was shot on location in Rwanda -- it demonstrates how the world, and the U.S. in parcitular, knew the genocide was occurring and how it avoided involvement for most of its duration. "These are Rwandans killing Rwandans," one government official says, as if to say the slaughter is a national, not international, problem.
The film suggests that the killing ended when a revolutionary group took control of the nation and world powers began to ascend on the equatorial country. By omission, it also suggests the killing parade could have been ended after a month if the world became involved at that time. The U.S. was still licking wounds from its adventure in Mogadishu when the Rwandan genocide began, making it difficult for Clinton administration officials to commit resources to end the atrocities.
Unlike "Hotel Rwanda", this film eshcews Hollywood glitz and style to portray a slice of life look at what organized murder can become. It is stark in its portrayal of ruling party members coming into neighborhoods for no reason other than to murder residents who belong to the wrong group in the caste society.
For me, it was akin to the zombies from "Night of the Living Dead" being given guns, machetes and clubs as well as governmental power and told to go on their merry way. It is a very sad but realistic portrayal, one that stays in the viewer's head long after the cinematic portrait is over.
At one point a woman who houses two victims from a massacre at a girl's school says they can stay in her home until dark, when her husband will return. "My husband and son-in-law are out killing," she says, matter-of-factly, as if describing their day jobs. The film is most effective in demonstrating how killing can become routine when the majority supports it and how regularly it can be carried out in your neighborhood, in your church, in your school, and on your street, which is full of dead people.
This is an important film and one that has lasting value in our world. Unlike "Schindler's List" it doesn't have big stars and the Hollywood glamour machine supporting it. But its story is equally as telling about an event in the real world that most of us gave about as much thought to as the remnants of our morning toothpaste going down the drain.
Movie Review: One of the best films of the new year,
Summary: 5 Stars
HBO continues to make exceptional films that should be seen in theaters and Sometimes in April is no exception. Without sensationalizing the violence of the Hutus against the Tutsis in 1994, director/writer Raoul Peck nonetheless dramatizes the horror of the mass murder that took place in Rwanda.
One scene in particular illustrates the contrast of vicious Hutu army killers with the heroism of their victims. The Hutu army has stormed a Christian Preparatory School for girls and found a young black teacher with fifty or so of her students hiding in a large classroom space. The army officer demands that the Hutus among the girls step away from their classmates, not knowing that the girls have already decided to stay together and support each other. The officer becomes frustrated with the rejection of his order and opens fire with his men killing all but three of the young women.
Time and again cowardly, machete wielding Hutu thugs are confronted with the heroism of their victims. Hutu radio has characterized all Tutsis as "cockroaches" and exhorts all Hutus to completely eliminate them from society. In a little over three months over a million Tutsis and their Hutu supporters are brutally murdered.
How could the world, and in particular we in the United States, have watched with indifference? The answer seems to be that Rwanda is a poor, small country in the center of Africa with no strategic or commercial importance to anyone. Debra Winger plays the part of a key Washington official who tries to persuade the government to intervene, but with little or no support from anyone.
At the heart of Sometimes in April is the story of a captain in the Hutu army who has a Tutsi wife and three children. This young officer experiences the tragedy of the genocide as he attempts to protect his family against the stupidity and evil that engulf his country. The fact that he is Hutu and an outstanding officer with a fine record makes no difference in determining the fate of his family or anyone else with Tutsi blood.
Sometimes in April is an outstanding film that is sure to be in contention for honors as one of the best movies in 2005. Those viewers unable to see this film on HBO are encouraged to get the DVD. They will not be disappointed.
Movie Review: Even more powerful than Hotel Rwanda
Summary: 5 Stars
Sometimes In April is a shocking portrayal of the lives of Rwandan survivors Augustine Muganza (excellently played by Idris Elba) and Sister Martine (talented Pamela Nomvete). While lacking the flair of Hotel Rwanda, `Sometimes' makes up for flash with brutal reality of the atrocities committed in 1994.
The movie bounces back and forth between the genocide in 1994 and 2004, when Augustine's brother Honore is on trial for his involvement with the genocide through his radio broadcasts on RTLM "Hutu Radio" show. Honore was a journalist who got caught up in the propaganda he spewed out over the airwaves, until the violence comes to his own family.
In 2004, Augustine is with Martine, and the movie goes backward in time from Honore's trial to document the horrors that both Augustine and Martine survived. This made for HBO movie is much more graphic than theater-released Hotel Rwanda, brutally shoving into your face the mass murder of innocent catholic schoolgirls, horrific testimony from a mother who was tortured and raped for days on end, and the callus indifference of the westernized world.
"It's just Rwandans killing Rwandans," says one official. "We have no oil, no dams, there is nothing in Rwanda for you," says Rwandan militia member, encouraging the US to stay out of the genocide. Equally as appalling as the mass murders are real-clips from Prudence Bushnell as she coldly described how the US classified Genocide, and all the political back-speak as the western nations tried to cover their impassiveness with words while one million human beings died.
Sometimes In April is a powerful, must-see movie, but not for the squeamish or feint of heart. It is brutal, and reminds us to "Never Forget". Expertly directed by Raoul Peck and filled with unknown but very talented actors, `Sometimes' will grab your attention and not let you go until the end. I did find the movie a bit hard to follow at times with the time-jumps, but not overwhelmingly so. Horrifically good movie with realistic portrayal. Enjoy!
Movie Review: Better than "Hotel Rwanda"
Summary: 5 Stars
I loved this movie. I found it more powerful than "Hotel Rwanda", partly because it was filmed on the spot, right where the events took place 10 years ago.
The main actors were great, although not Rwandese themselves, particularly the first male caracter who acted brillantly. I wasn't so convinced by the actress who played a teacher and his girlfriend though, perhaps because she didn't look or speak much like a Rwandese.
The director took a meticulous care at depicting people and re-enacting events where they took place. Having visited Rwanda and Uganda, I was particularly moved by this story ( and I could see and smell all the colors and scents of Africa, which are still so vivid in my memory. Such as the smell of the earth when rain is falling... ) You can catch the beauty of Eastern Africa, and perhaps have a glimpse at what politics there look like...
The relationship between poor African nations such as Rwanda and the rest of the world hasn't changed much since the genocide, although a lot of efforts have been put to let us think otherwise. More than any other movie or documentary made on the subject, the director succeeded well in showing the hypocrisy of politicians and bureaucrats in the West, who matched but did nothing as thousand of lives were savagely murdered.
On the other hand, there was not enough emphasis perhaps on the political climate prior to the genocide. The disparity between rich and poor, the fact that power usually lays in the hands of a dominating and ruling tribe, are just one of the few reasons which can explain this massacre. This alone cannot lead to war. The complexity of politics in this part of the world can maybe be told in another movie?
Movie Review: We must learn from this!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
"Sometimes in April" is a difficult, often disturbing movie to watch, but one I think is important to see.
Shot in a semi documentary mode largely on location in Rwanda, with lots of flashbacks from the present, it tells the story of the attempt to systematically wipe out the Tutsi minority (referred to as cockroaches) by the Hutu Majority.
After first giving the viewer a synopsis on the genesis of the bad blood between the two tribes from the days under Belgian colonial rule, the movie settles into the story of two brothers, Augustine (a soldier in the army) and Honore Muganza (a radio presenter; excellent performances from both actors, as well as the entire cast which was comprised largely or Rwandans), as tensions rise in the country, cumulating in the shooting down of the president's plane which serves as the spark for the massacres to commence.
It is heartbreaking watching former neighbours and friends turning on one another with machetes, clubs and guns, all because one is from the `wrong' tribe, the death of Kurt Cobain getting more airtime, and foreign governments debating whether `acts of genocide, or an act of genocide' is taking place, while an estimated million people were killed over a period of a hundred days.
Much more graphic than "Hotel Rwanda", where the viewers were largely insulated from the savagery going on outside the hotel walls, it was important that this tale be told, and mankind, hopefully learn from this, and while ensuring such a thing never happens again, also realize that every human life is worth something, regardless of whether oil runs beneath your feet or not.