Shake Hands With The Devil: The Journey of Roméo Dallaire

The documentary emphasizes Roméo Dallaire’s experience and his command of the United Nations mission in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide. The viewer gets to experience first hand, Dallaire’s story during the Rwanda Genocide and how he had no support from the UN and how they ignored his requests for more aid.

Between April 1994 and July 1994, the Hutu’s killed an estimated 800,000 Tutsi’s in 100 days. Dallaire was put in charge of a United Nations peacekeeping mission during the 1994 genocide. The documentary tells the story of General Dallaire and shows his return to Rwanda with his wife 10 years after the genocide.

Dallaire really opens up about his experiences and how difficult it was to save the Rwandan people without the support of his organization and the rest of the world. He did everything in his power to protect innocent lives without the aid that was desperately needed to ensure survival. He opens up about how he had a hard time dealing with the fact that his mission was a fail. He went through post traumatic stress because he couldn’t cope with the amount of killings he was exposed too throughout out his time to Rwanda.

The documentary takes viewers back to Rwanda where Dallaire visits for the first time since the genocide. He visits the different memorial sights and talks to different people, learning about their experiences and reflecting on his own.

I really enjoyed the documentary and I feel that it gave Dallaire the opportunity to share his story and the viewers got the chance to experience first hand, his emotional trip back to Rwanda, 10 years after the genocide which was a very emotional experience.

Ghosts of Rwanda

Ghosts of Rwanda is a special documentary to mark the 10^th anniversary of the Rwanda genocide. 800, 000 Rwandans were hunted down and murdered by Hutu extremists as the U.S and international community refused to intervene taking a backseat, disregarding how extreme and brutal this massacre was becoming. The documentary emphasizes the social, political and diplomatic failures that may have enabled the genocide to occur.

Ghosts of Rwanda displays interviews of those who first hand, experienced the genocide.

The film also reveals in detail how the Rwandan Hutu extremists not only secretly planned and executed a detailed plan for genocide, but also calibrated their actions to ensure that the West would not intervene.

The viewer gets to see actual clips and listen to people express their experiences during the genocide in 1994. The U.S is extremely blamed for their limited effort to intervene and stop the genocide. They refused to use the word “genocide” when describing the troubles in Rwanda at the time in order to keep themselves from being forced to intervene which they never showed any interest or willingness to do.

Each interview was very inspiring and emotional, as you can sincerely understand the effects the genocide had on the individuals who were trying their best to help save the Rwandan people. I feel that the documentary was a very good representation of the genocide as it displayed the horrific events that took place. It is important for the world to be aware of how prejudice and hatred towards specific groups of people can lead to terrible and disturbing events. Even though at times it was hard to watch the documentary, I really enjoyed the truth displayed throughout the film highlighting how cruel the Rwanda genocide really was.  

Shake Hands With The Devil

Shake Hands With The Devil emphasized General, Roméo Dallaire’s experience in Rwanda during the genocide. The film displayed how torn Dallaire was between his duty and his conscience when he finds himself eyewitness to hell on earth. In 1993, the United Nations dispatches Roméo Dallaire to Rwanda to command a peacekeeping mission. When the president’s plane is shot down in April 1994, chaos breaks out in Rwanda and Dallaire finds himself conflicted between saving the Rwandan People or keeping loyal to his organization by not intervening.

The film emphasizes how effected Dallaire was by his experience in Rwanda and shows flashbacks of the difficult decisions he was being forced to make because of the pressure of the UN. Dallaire went through posttraumatic stress because of his failed mission and felt remorse for not doing everything he could to stop the genocide. Dallaire showed determination and commitment to completeling his mission even without the support of his organization and the rest of the world. He found it very difficult to help the Rwandan people with limited resources and troops to protect them.

I really enjoyed the movie and thought Roy Dupis’s portrayal of Dallaire was exceptional. He outlined Dallaires struggle in Rwanda as well, as his determination to do everything he could to protect the Rwandan people.

Even though the mission failed, I feel like Roméo Dallaire is a true hero. Just because he feels as though he didn’t succeed, he still saved thousands of lives and never gave up on Rwanda even when most of the world did. A true hero stands up for what they believe in even if their standing alone.

Hotel Rwanda

This wasn’t my first time seeing Hotel Rwanda but I feel that watching movies more than once, helps you better understand the beauty of a film and as well, notice things that maybe you didn’t really pay attention too the first time seeing it.

Hotel Rwanda emphasizes Paul Rusesabagina’s story during the Rwanda Genocide in 1994. The film displayed his courage, strength and love for his family and well being. He used his connections with people of power, to keep himself, his family and over a thousand Hutu and Tutsi refugees safe. He took people in and gave them a place to feel safe at the Milles Collines Hotel. Even when his family had the chance to flee Rwanda, he stayed behind because he felt sympathy for the people left at the hotel. He risked his life to save many others and definitely showed true heroism. I really liked Don Cheadle’s portrayal of Paul because I think he fully grasped the emotion needed to play the role. However, I feel that the representation of Roméo Dallaire was poorly showed. After viewing many other movies and documentaries about Dallaire, I feel that Hotel Rwanda did not truly show how important Dallaire’s role was during the Genocide.

Even though I really enjoyed Hotel Rwanda and I thought it was an amazing movie, I feel like after seeing it a 2^nd time, I picked up on things that I didn’t notice the first time. I started to notice how ‘Hollywood’ and cliché the movie really was. After noticing this, the feeling I felt for the movie started to ware off and I started to be annoyed. Another thing I noticed is that the movie mainly showed Paul’s story, which was remarkable, but the viewer’s didn’t get the chance to fully understand and see what was happening outside the gates of the hotel. I feel the film, should have showed more of the genocide to have a stronger effect on the viewer and not as much focus on the ‘Hollywood’ aspect.

Godzilla

Watching a film made in the 1950’s was definitely a new experience. I got the chance to notice and fully understand how drastically the film industry has changed over time. I did not really grasp how important colour, acting and special effects can be to the look of a film but with the lack of these three factors, I truly began to understand their importance.

Godzilla was shot in black and white, which made the film look dull and not as interesting to look at. The plot of the film became the driving force, as you really needed to pay attention to the story of the film in order to still be interested to watch. But this task was rather difficult, as the film was shot in Japanese and I was then forced to rely on English subtitles to keep up with the plot. Then, there was the acting, which was difficult to appreciate because of the different language, the over exaggerated facial expressions and screams as they became more comical to me. It was hard to take the actors seriously when not understanding what they were saying and the over exaggerated facial expressions and gestures. Special effects are important factors to films because they help enhance the creativity and look of a film, and if the special effects aren’t realistic, they take away the feel from the overall look of the movie. Godzilla didn’t seem realistic so it was hard to relate to the characters in the movie’s scared feelings every time Godzilla was ready to attack. However, I do give the film credit for playing reoccurring scary music that the viewer knew meant that Godzilla was near.

Overall, the movie was interesting for the time being. In today’s society, with the technological advantages, technology has become an important necessity in the film industry so watching a movie made in the 1950’s was very different. It made me appreciate the hard work that goes into today’s films to make them more realistic.

Children of Men

The movie is set in 2027, when no child has been born for 18 years and science is at loss to explain the reason. African and East European societies collapse and their dwindling populations migrate to England and other wealthy nations. In a climate of nationalistic violence, a London peace activist Theo Faron joins forces with his revolutionary ex-wife Julian in order to save mankind by protecting a woman who has mysteriously became pregnant. Theo’s role is to protect the girl from harm as a miracle is given to a country that has lost all hope.

I thought the movie showed spectacular acting as Theo Faron’s character showed determination and empathy for the pregnant girl’s circumstances and did everything in his power to protect her and make sure her baby was born.

I thought the colour scheme; the dark greys and dull look really set the tone of the movie and showed how big of a depression state London was in. The dull setting really impacted the viewer’s mood throughout the film. I think that the setting in Children of Men was a very important factor to the movie as it carried the plot and told the story more efficiently.

V For Vendetta

Who is V?  This is the question I constantly asked myself throughout the movie. It is the question that kept me intrigued throughout the film to find out the truth behind the mask and understand who V really is.

The movie V for Vendetta sets off in Great Britain where the country is run by an oppressive government in 2020. Evey, a young woman is rescued by V, which instantly connects the two on a completely different level.  V has a mission, his mission is to change the country and allow the people to have a say. He destroys the Old Bailey and takes over the television broadcast encouraging the people of Britain to rise up against the oppressive government and meet him in one year, on the 5th of November, outside the Houses of Parliament which he promises to destroy.

V is considered a terrorist, but he’s not terrorizing the people. Instead, his goal is to awaken and empower them. That is why he develops such an interest in Evey. He takes her into his lair to free her from her fears by torturing her without her knowing who in fact is keeping her captive. When she finds out V is responsible for imprisoning her, she is devastated and develops a strong hatred towards him for what he did to her but she realizes she now feels stronger and free in spirit. She leaves him with a promise to return before the 5th of November.

As the 5th of November nears, V's various schemes cause chaos in Britain and the population grows more hostile towards the government. As promised, Evey goes to V’s lair on the night of the 5^th where he shows her an underground train full of explosives that will lead to the Parliament Buildings but leaves the decision up to her whether or not to destroy it. Evey embodies the strength and power and decided to follow through with the destruction. The country is united and the government is defeated setting Great Britain free.

Now the real question is not who is V but instead is V a hero or a villain? Are his actions towards the government and Evey justified? Well these are questions left up to the viewer but in my opinion, he is a hero for trying to empower Britain to stand up to the government even though he achieved it in an inhumane way. There are no answers as to why he chose to go about the government the way he did, but he brought Britain together and sacrificed his own life for the country proving his true heroism.

He may have villain qualities but he proved to be a hero.