Shake hands with the Devil

The movie shake hand with the devil directed by Roger Spottiswoode was intense, interesting and informative. The film focuses around general Romeo Dallaire who was a Canadian UN general put in charge of the peacekeeping mission in Rwanda. It shows how little help, funding and information they were given going into the mission. They weren’t even given enough ammo to use, and every vehicle they had been breaking down and almost useless.

                What I like most about this film was the way that they don’t focus only on how it was during the genocide, but how it looked at all the factors behind it, and what happened to the people afterwards. It shows the mental effect it had on Dallaire. The whole movie is bursting with facts and I learned a lot more out of this than any other movie I’ve seen on the genocide. The facts, with the exciting scenes keep you interested and make you want to do something to help.

                Another reason I really enjoyed this film was because it seemed so real, at some points it seems more like a documentary than a movie. They actually went to Rwanda to film on the real sights where all these tragic events took place so it makes it seem like you’re watching the real thing go down. I think that for a film that has a serious tone all throughout it that this is very important. It wouldn’t be taken as serious if you could tell that it was on a set somewhere in the US. Without all the lights and fake backgrounds and bright colours, you get a grittier, almost realistic view on how things actually were.

                Overall I would give this movie 3 out of 5 stars. The reason I wouldn’t give it a perfect rating is because it does lack some excitement and there are a few scenes I could have done without. Also some of the scenes seem dragged out and shouldn’t last as long as they do.

Hotel Rwanda

Hotel Rwanda Review

            Hotel Rwanda is a film about a man named Paul Rusesabagina who was a successful manager of the mille collines hotel in Rwanda. Before the genocide started Paul was a stand up man. He was liked and respected by majority of his staff and had a couple important people who he could ask for favours. When the genocide begins Paul does all he can for his family to keep them safe. His wife Tatiana is a Tutsi, so that means that the Hutu extremists are looking to kill her and the kids. Paul being a Hutu would have made him a little bit less of a target, but he does everything he can for his wife and kids, which would still make the extremists want to kill him.

            Paul takes action by getting his family and a couple fortunate others to the hotel he was working at. However before they get there some soldiers capture them and a couple of their neighbours. The soldier in charge gives Paul a gun and tells him to shoot them all. Instead, using quick thinking he bribes the soldier with all the money he had on him, plus more when they got to the hotel. It works and now Paul is responsible for protecting, feeding and sheltering more than 1000 refugees. While there are UN soldiers at the gates trying to keep the people safe, Interhamwe militia have set up barricades just outside of the hotel. This are getting chaotic and even some of the staff have stopped working because they are scared, and think that Paul can’t do anything for them anymore. Then another soldier, maybe a lieutenant, comes into the hotel and demands to see the guest list on the computer. After Dube, Pauls assistant tells him that more than half of the files have been taken out the lieutenant is just about to order his men to kill everybody in the hotel. Once again Paul uses quick thinking and his connections to get them out of the mess.

            I really like Paul as a person. Even if only half of the things he did in the movie were true, he is still the most selfless and compassionate man i know of. Giving up all of his money and taking on the burden of keeping that many refugees safe is something that not many people would have done. The average person would have worried about their family and that’s it. While caring about his family deeply Paul has managed to keep many more family in tact by letting them stay in the hotel. When the UN starts to take out only white people and western natives, Paul openly accepts many more people into the hotel, he starts to think about the options he has and how wrong it is that they are leaving the rest of them to die. The UN eventually gets them all out of the hotel by using massive trucks, but the interhamwe still make it difficult for them to leave.

            I would say overall this movie is great. Aside from not having enough of the facts about the genocide any more just focusing on drama, this movie is exciting and has you on the edge of your seat cheering for Paul hoping that he gets out okay.

Godzilla

The dystopian film Godzilla is about a monster sized reptile that comes to Japan and starts attacking the metropolis. Although this is what you would first notice, there are many themes hidden within the film. There are constant references to the US and nukes. Godzilla was made a short time after World War 2 when Japan got nuked twice.

            Apparently Godzilla was created by the radiation from the nukes. Therefore they constantly say how we should never use atom bombs again because all they cause is destruction. Also, there are scenes in the film where a Japanese city is burning down as Godzilla leaves back to the ocean. This is a powerful scene because one of the ways that the US attacked Japan was fire bombs. I don’t think that the director had that exactly in mind when making the film but there are some similarities for sure.

            I feel there are good messages in this film; however it was hard to enjoy it. Some actors knew what they where doing but others just ruined the whole thing for me. Characters such as the scientist with an eye patch and his love interest are people that I could have done without. They should have just stuck to 1 main character and the palaeontologist that would have made me enjoy it more without having the stupid love triangle. Another reason why I couldn’t fully enjoy this movie is because there are some scenes that seem pointless and irrelevant to the plot, for instance the scene where Daisuke shows the Emko the oxygen destroyer for the first time. If he wanted to keep it such a secret why would he go off and show her when she had no idea it even existed. After when she tells Hideto about it, Daisuke gets mad at her but I was just thinking of course she’s going to tell him about it, a giant dinosaur reptile monster is destroying the city and that’s clearly the only chance they have. It’s either save the fish or save all of Japan, so I didn’t fully understand why Daisuke didn’t want to show his invention. Another thing was just before they drop down to use the oxygen destroyer on Godzilla he says he never thought that this would be the way he shows his invention to the world, but its really the only time that an invention like that would ever be used positively.

            Overall I enjoyed the movie because I liked watching Godzilla stop around and destroy all the toy cars and city.

Children of Men Film Review

                Children of men is a suspenseful, action packed film that leaves you guessing but at the same time intrigued throughout the entire movie.  The film depicts a future where women are no longer able to get pregnant. It is a world of chaos because there are only people 18+ alive and of course, they start a civil war. There are rebels who call themselves fishes and they fight for the rights of all immigrants, they believe that all humans should continue having the same amount of rights. It’s a future where all the innocence is gone, along with the children.

                Throughout the film I noticed the colours of backgrounds and clothes are usually all the same, darker and blander. I think the director did this to get a point across that without babies and little kids’ life is plain and sad. Also the camera work is phenomenal in this film. Whether is the scene where they are in the car and Julian gets shot while you are looking through the POV of someone in the back seat or the scene where Theo is running through the building looking for Kee, the camerawork makes it feel intense as if you were there. You get a real feel of how hectic it can get when people lose sight of what’s important and start fighting instead.  I think that the fugees and fishes and government fighting actually symbolize he struggle that some people fight and work so hard to get.  It really shows that most people are willing to fight for their freedom, but some people are willing to fight for the freedom of others.

                Theo is defiantly not a typical hero because in the beginning he is only willing to help is he’s going to get paid for it. Then in the barn scene where Theo finds out that Kee is pregnant, his character changes. He stops only thinking of himself and what benefits him, and starts to think about what will help Kee and the world. He figures out that the fishes want him dead and they can’t be trusted he tries to get them out of their without even thinking about the consequences. He wants to do nothing but keep Kee and the baby safe and eventually it gets him killed because he storms a building where the army and rebels are having a crazy unnecessary shootout.  His character shows growth and emotion which makes me admire him even more.               

V for Vendetta Movie Review

            The film V for Vendetta is a film about a girl named Evey Hammond who gets mixed up in the affairs of a freedom fighter which we know as V. The film gives an interesting look at what Britain would be like if the government had taken complete control over the population. It’s never fully explained about what got them to this point but throughout the film I noticed everyone saying “back then” so something must have gone seriously wrong. V being the most interesting and complex character in the film is a man who was subjected to torture and human experiments, so now he is seeking revenge on the people who did this to him. Throughout the whole film it keeps you guessing and wondering what the connection between all the people is. You see the point of view of Evey, V or the inspector who was originally just looking for V but stumbled onto something much bigger.

            V is repeatedly called a “terrorist” by the government and the media, because they have full control of the country they can broadcast whatever they want so they tell the populous that he is a terrorist and all he intends to do is drive them back into chaos. This however is not the case if you see things from Vs point of view. Instead of seeing him as a terrorist the film makes you feel that his actions are justified and what he is doing is not an act of terror but heroism. He does do some things however that are not very heroic, such as blowing up the first building without warning; anybody could have gotten killed from the blast or falling debris. However I feel that V did all his actions because he felt it was the right thing to do, and I don’t think he really cares what the other think as long as he can get his revenge and start the revolution.