by this it showed a brutality and emotion that i thought hotel rwanda didnt have still good but i think this was more indepth and the emotion especially on father christopther near the end was amazing had to be the biggest failure of humanity ever
shareI had the opportunity to meet the Director of Hotel Rwanda when I was invited to a screening of the film before it appeared in theatres, and he let us in on a lot of information and personal feelings about the film. One of the issues he had the most trouble with was striking a balance in the film. He realized that the subject matter was brutal and horrific and so there were things that were purposefully left out because he wanted the greater story of the tragedy to reach as large of an audience as possible. While I understand his struggle, I prefer Shooting Dogs because it tells the truth of exactly how things happened, it doesnt romanticize the genocide, it does not make it easy for the viewer to watch this film. Unfortunately because it is so matter of fact many people wont have the stomach to watch, and that is a damned shame because they need to know. I was very young when the Rwandan genocide broke out and I did not know anything about it. Once i became older and began working for NGO's and found out the scope of the brutality i was floored and ashamed that my country did nothing. There were soldiers who eventually ignored their orders from the UN to do nothing and they saved everyone that they could but it was a complete failure on the part of the US and Western European countries who stood by and did nothing while the very international laws they enacted should have compelled them to do something.
shareI think when HOTEL RWANDA came out, the two men actually stated that the one thing that didn't happen was the conversation between each other at a bar. BEYOND THE GATES, is one version. Yes, it was devastating to see Tutsi's standing there knowing that the men with machetes were coming for them. I think what broke me was when the man came to the UN soldier and asked him to kill the children to spare them from the hands of those with machetes.
John Hurt's character statement was right on the money. "God is here with these people in their time of desperation." (or something like that). Same for the survivors. It is hard to make a promise, then not follow thru and try to live with the guilt. One hand you cannot blame yourself for trying to make a difference but at the same time, are you suppose to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders all by yourself?
No country did a thing to help Rwanda, NONE! The U.N. did as much as they could but even that wasn't effective. If it was not for the survivors to tell the stories and continue to make others aware of the genocide including the HOTEL RWANDA man and his family it would continue to go on.
The reason, I believe it was hard to call it genocide was because it would bring up memories of the genocide of millions of Jews. Even in WWII, no country took action until they were forced to become involved. No one country wants to acknowledge the pink elephant in the room. It is all about the politics. Do not offend because we need them on our side.
Genocide happens still to this day & though the words said by many that it should never happen again, it does. Those who do survive and tell their story, still wonder why? How could it happen?
I particularly found the ending credit quote by Elie Wiesel “The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.”
So true.
DjNanci70
I was totally moved and I grew to hate all political people, that shot of a news prodcast or something anyways, a woman was telling the reporters some BS about what was happening in Rowanda was not considered a genocide. I am in rage when I think of the movie, that is the only time I pray for an end of the world because when *beep* like that is happening and no one is doing anything to stop it all then what is the point of humanity going on when all we do is create life then destroy it?
shareSPOILER ALERT
I was very moved by this, and there were two moments that moved me the most.
The first was when Father Christopher went into the convent and saw all the dead nuns, and even though there was blood all over the walls, flies everywhere, and he was retching into his hankerchief, he still chose do pull the nuns' skirts down (they'd clearly been raped), just to protect what little modesty those poor dead nuns had left.
The second was where the mother decided to run off through the field with her baby, and decided to make a run for it after hiding and got immeadiately stabbed by the Hutus. Just the look between the two Hutus after the mother was dead on the floor and the baby was crying and they just hesitated and decided to kill this one-day-old baby anyway. I felt physically sick.
moved deeply...
sharethis movie did move me. i was crying a lot!
this movie just shows how the human civilisation can just be so cruel.
the performances by the cast were amazing.
i cant believe humans in other countries down played what really happend in 1994, it sickens me.
~~*AIM*~~KEIRAHOLIC Nº14
Last Films: Red 7/10, Saw 3D 7/10, Tron 7/10, Narnia 3 8/10
I don't cry watching movies, not to be "macho" or whatever, but I guess it takes a lot to move me so significantly.
Certain scenes made me come close to it, specifically when the parents asked the UN commander to shoot them and then "only the children."
What broke me down was the credits. Seeing the actual people who worked on the film and lost so many relatives and friends in such a horrific way, yet are still able to smile really hit me hard. I mourned that my country (USA) stood by and did nothing as did the UN. I knew about the Rwandan genocide from reading about it and was too young to recall it, but to see it visually really hammered things in.
There is a scene at one of the roadblocks with the guy on his knees. He looks directly at Joe and is utterly petrified. His eyes are wide open. He shakes uncontrollably. He is then dragged into the bush and murdered. Truly shocking.
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