When the Hutu nationalists raised arms against their Tutsi countrymen in the African nation of Rwanda in April of 1994, the violent uprising marked the beginning of one of the darkest times in African history. Over the course of the next 100 days, brother would turn against brother, tearing families apart and resulting in the death of almost 800,000 people. Based on actual events that occurred during the uprising, Raoul Peck's affecting war drama tells the tale of two such brothers, whose differing loyalties found them on opposing sides of the conflict, and whose lives would never be the same following this tragic turn of events. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Review
A lesser-seen companion piece to Hotel Rwanda, HBO Films' Sometimes in April may be even more capable of rattling the viewer's core than its Oscar-nominated cousin. That's because where Hotel Rwanda made the artistic choice to shy away from the violence, Sometimes in April is unflinching, giving the 1994 Rwandan genocide a greater sense of visceral reality in the process. There are moments in this film when the viewer thinks "Oh no, they couldn't have really done that" -- but yes, in the process of slaughtering 800,000 in two months, marauding soldiers really did do those terrible things. Idris Elba and Pamela Nomvete lead the way with their intense performances -- as righteous as they're able to be without giving these hair-trigger thugs an excuse to spontaneously execute them. Like the most powerful cinematic depictions of tragedy are uniquely capable of doing, Sometimes in April introduces viewers to a world free from behavioral guidelines, and the chaos that results. As much as Raoul Peck's film delves into specific stories -- following a career soldier whose mixed marriage makes him a target, as well as a wounded school mistress -- the film also gives plenty of over-arching background on the decades-long clash between Hutus and Tutsis. It deftly straddles two time periods -- the immediate days and weeks of the killings, and the psychological post mortem a decade later. Where it's not particularly strong is when checking in with bureaucrats back in the U.S. (Debra Winger and Noah Emmerich), who are handcuffed by the Clinton administration's policy of non-intervention, and therefore, complicit in spite of themselves. These sections feel perfunctory. Everything else feels bold and devastatingly intimate -- appropriate for a film actually shot in Rwanda, some of it on the very hotel grounds where some Rwandans improbably found what most of their countrymen could not: refuge. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Kisha Imani Cameron - Associate Producer, Sylvie Brochere - Casting, Paule Mangenot - Costume Designer, Nicolas Cambois - First Assistant Director, Raoul Peck - Director, Jacques Comets - Editor, Joel Stillerman - Executive Producer, Raoul Peck - Executive Producer, Bruno Coulais - Composer (Music Score), Benoit Barouh - Production Designer, Eric Guichard - Cinematographer, Daniel Delume - Producer, Eric Devulder - Sound/Sound Designer, Jean-Pierre Laforce - Sound/Sound Designer, Stéphane Thiébaut - Sound/Sound Designer, Raoul Peck - Screenwriter
Similar Movies
Hotel Rwanda; Rwanda: History of a Genocide; Rwanda: History of Genocide; Rwanda: In Search of Hope; Frontline: Ghosts of Rwanda; The Dead Are Alive: An Eyewitness in Rwanda; Forsaken Cries: The Story of Rwanda; Forgotten Wars: Rwanda - An Endless War; A Republic Gone Mad: Rwanda 1894-1994; In Rwanda We Say... The Family That Does Not Speak Dies; Gacaca: Living Together Again in Rwanda?; A World Apart; Beyond the Gates
The story centers on two brothers: Honoré Butera, working for the tribalistRadio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines, and Augustin Muganza, a captain in the Rwandan army (who was married to a Tutsi woman, Jeanne, and had three children with her: Anne-Marie, Yves-André, and Marcus), who bear witness to the killing of close to 900,000 people in 100 days while becoming divided by politics and losing some of their own family. The film depicts the attitudes and circumstances leading up to the outbreak of brutal violence, the intertwining stories of people struggling to survive the genocide, and the aftermath as the people try to find justice and reconciliation.
Discussions
Although this film originally aired on HBO, it was later broadcast by PBS and followed with a paneldiscussion by journalist Jeff Greenfield. Paul Bonerwitz is one of the speakers.
In contrast to Hotel Rwanda, which was rated PG-13 and had most of the genocide violence subtly implied rather than explicitly shown, this film was noted for its more gruesome and graphic portrayal of the violence, which gave it a TV-MA rating.
Shake Hands with the Devil (2007 film), a 2007 film based on the book of the same name recounting General Dallaire's harrowing personal journey during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide and how the United Nations failed to heed Dallaire's urgent pleas for further assistance to halt the massacre
