UK R2 DVD
Rwanda, April 1994, a catholic school and church; headed by Father Christopher (John Hurt) is overrun by Tutsi refugee’s from a near by village after the Hutu uprising have forced them from their homes. Joe Conner (Hugh Dancy) a teacher at the school helps arrange foot and supplies for the ever growing number. As the UN soldiers sit and watched as a increasing number of Hutu villagers start to circle the school, they are powerless in intervene; unless first fired upon by the Hutu’s.
The situation worsens and soon all of the white people – spare Christopher and Joe are left with the Tutsi villagers. When word comes in that the UN are withdrawing after the death of 10 soldiers, they must face the agonizing dilemma face-on: Do they stand firm with the Rwandans or flee with the UN before the inevitable happens?
Shooting Dogs is the film Hotel Rwanda wished it was. Bold, bleak and truly devastating it’s a film that doesn’t pull any of its punches regarding the barbaric acts that happened between April and July 1994. It also doesn’t shy away from the fact that the UN didn’t seem all that bothered by the death of 800,000 Africans and did all they could NOT to get involved and help calm the situation, unlike when white people were being slaughtered in Bosnia.
It’s a brilliant film all around, from the acting (included amongst the cast are genocide survivors) to the cinematography – this is grade-a film making. The fact that they shot the film in the area of the actual atrocity truly brings home the reality of the situation and will truly leave you sickened. This is a movie, like Schindler’s List, that every human should watch once, purely to remind them of what can happen when our guard is let down and our interest lay elsewhere.
As for the British title, Shooting Dogs, it refers to the United Nations actions in wanting to shoot the dogs who roamed around the streets eating the bodies of the dead Tutsi: alarmed they may spread disease. It says more than this review ever could.
Shooting Dogs serves as a reminder to us all that this shit still goes on today, it may not be happening where you are but its still happening. Are we going to sit back and allow the carnage to continue, as was the case in Rwanda, or are we going to take action to prevent the needless loss of human life at the hands of the most dangerous threat to us – ourselves.
