Touches You

Powerful

People are voting emotionally.

Blistering performances.

This movie is told through the eyes of a young teacher at a catholic school, watching as the RAWANDAN genocide un-furls around him.The movie starts off with a brief explanation about the past history and rivalry of Rawanda. Then it jumps to the story as told through the eyes of a young idealistic "NEW-COMER" a young teacher who doesn't take life or the situation too seriously. As he and the driver approach a road-block he plays around with his drivers I.D. not realizing that this is a serious moment and that if the driver can't identify himself as being of the right tribe to the soldiers they'll be killed. And thats how he treats the unfolding story of chaos and unfolding around him. Suddenly realizes that every Rawandan (including his driver) is involved and that the Europeans soldiers and tourists cannot and will not help. The media cameras cannot stop machete's, and there's too many machete wielding militia-men too shoot. the title comes from the armies captain saying he's going to shoot the dogs eating the dead-bodies around his compound, but won't shoot the Militia-men that are killing people around the compound. Mainly because they haven't fired at the soldiers yet. Finally he realizes the hopelessness of the situation and the guy who tells the evacuation team that he wants to give up his seat for one of the intended victims, flees with his tail in-between his legs, rather than face immanent death with the school kids he's promised not to leave behind.It's more of character study, and a come to Jesus moment for one character, than a story about the genocide in "RAWANDA". This movie didn't have to take place in RAWANDA, it could have taken place any one of the Genocidal hell holes going around this world at any given time.

In recent years us film fans got two films on the Rwandan genocide, Hotel Rwanda and Shooting Dogs. Hotel Rwanda focused on Paul Rusesabagina, a Hutu who saved Tutsis and became known as the African Schlinder. Shooting Dogs focuses on a similar theme, where a Catholic Priest Christoper (John Hurt) and teacher Joe (Hugh Dancy), try to protect Tutsi people in their school behind a shield of Beligan UN troops.The film starts with a quick history of the situation where UN troops were sent to monitor a fragile peace in Rwanda and see the Beligan troops based at Christoper's school Ecole Technique Officielle. Christopher had been in Rwanda for thirty years, whilst Joe is new to the country, but starting to get to know and like the people. In Rwanda the situation is tense and they are signs of tension, such as roadblocks which soldiers stop and beat up Tutsis, and Hutu militia attacking Tutsi peace protesters. They was also propaganda against Tutsis on the radio and tones of racism, where Hutus call Tutsis cockroaches. These tensions explosive when the President of Rwanda is killed in a plane crash, it's unknown if it was an assassination or a accident. Hutu extremest uses this as a change to overthrow the government and start their racial policy of wiping out the Tutsi. Christoper and Joe are thrown into the middle of this and they allow Tutsis into the school and make it into a refugee camp. Out in the streets the capital becomes a ghost-town and the Hutu militia rule, killing as many Tutsis as possible. Christoper, Joe and BBC reporter Rachel (Nicola Walker) all see this when trying to get supply and footage. The school leadership plead with the Beligan Captain (Dominique Horwitz) to try and take a more proactive role in stopping the killings. The captain is sympathetic but he has few men and the UN mandates was so strict that it prevented the troops from doing anything except in self-defence. The film shows the UN were useless in the situation. As the genocide continued no where seem to be safe, with schools and churches being attacked and the killing was indiscriminate, including the killing of babies. Because of this the west decide to take as many of their people out as possible and leave the Rwandans to their fate.This is a powerful film, showing how savage the conflict and the genocide was. It was brutal and unlike Hotel Rwanda, you see the violence in this film. It shows broken friendships, conflict with the school and man-kind at its best and worst. At times it a touch watch and it needed a strong filmmaker and a non-Hollywood style. This is Michael Caton-Jones' best film, and these are the types of films he should make. The acting is really strong by all the performers, especially John Hurt as a priest. As well, unlike Hotel Rwanda which was filmed in South Africa, Shooting Dogs was shot on location and a lot of survivors were used during the filming, from extras to Assistant directors to background staff. It adds a favour to the film. The characters were made to see as human as possible, not one dimensional beings. All characters had a charge to shine. The filmmakers took great care trying to show the personal accepts whilst looking at the wider picture. The is a strong script behind the film, written by David Wolstencroft, creator of Spooks and main writer during the first 3 seasons (when the show was at it best), and a very promising British talent, and Richard Alwyn, a BBC producer who was in Rwanda at the time of the genocide and knows the story what happened at the school from first hand experience. As well the film was critical of the UN and the west for not doing anything in Rwanda.Shooting Dogs has been criticised for trying to tell the story of the genocide from a white man's presceptive. I can understand the criticisms but sadly I think its hard to market a film like this without western money and support, nor been seen without western faces. Some of that is true to Hotel Rwanda as well. However, I think that they could have a more prominent role for a Rwandan character. The only major Rwandan character was a girl called Marie (Clare-Hope Ashitey), a pupil at the story. However even her character wasn't that major and she could have had a little more to do. I also feel that the final scene could have been done differently.All in all a very strong film and is worth watching.

Can't believe this is the same director who made one of my favorites of all time, "Doc Hollywood"! What a range. But, here again, wonderful creation of sense of place. If you think "Hotel Rwanda" did it all, think again. In many ways this film is more horrifying with its focus on a single technical college where many Tutsis took refuge despite the impotence of UN soldiers based there. I also admired the inclusion of details that showed the Rwandans not simply as passive victims, but organizing themselves within the compound to promote their own welfare and resisting where possible.The film ably depicted the "thuggery" of the Hutu militias. Scholars of ethnic conflict have noted how thugs use the cover of ethnicity to exploit unsettled situations. The solution? Prompt "policing", a strong show of force, as could have been provided by the UN.

In April, 1994, the airplane of the Hutu President of Rwanda crashes and the Hutu militias slaughter the Tutsi population. In the Ecole Technique Officielle, the Catholic priest Christopher (John Hurt) and the idealistic English teacher Joe Connor (Hugh Dancy) lodge two thousand and five hundred Rwandans survivors in the school under the protection of the UN Belgian force and under siege of the Hutu militia. When the Tutsi refugees are abandoned by the UN, they are murdered by the extremist militia.After the magnificent 1994 "Hotel Rwanda", the world has the chance to see another testimony of the genocide in Rwanda, where eight hundred thousand (800,000) people was killed between April and July of 1994 under the total absence of protection or intervention of the United Nation. This powerful and touching true story was filmed in the real locations with the support of the survivors of the massacre. John Hurt is fantastic in the role of a suffered Catholic priest that dedicated his life to the people of this poor country, and Hugh Dancy is also amazing with an excellent interpretation. There are magnificent lines, but I personally was moved when Joe asks Christopher how much pain can a human being take, when he sees the mother being killed by machete strikes with her baby son by one killer of the militia. The questions about God's role the children ask Father Christopher are also great. The feelings of Rachel about the differences between the situation in Bosnia and in Rwanda are very sincere and the sacrifice of Christopher is something very beautiful in this film. The last question to the UN representative "- How many acts of genocide does it take to make a genocide?" in the procedures, regulations, viewpoint of whatever from UN closes this sad but recommended movie with golden key. My vote is nine.Title (Brazil): "Tiros em Ruanda" ("Shots in Rwanda")