sweetdreamer512 Where do I start.It has been a very very long time since I have seen a decent film. The last film I felt so touched and moved by I had seen was the pianist and the (harvey) milk film from 2008.Those 2 fantastic movies aside, this film absolutely wiped the floor with its emotional attachment. Being of African descent myself, rocked me with even more tears and sympathy watching this film.The film is set in the genuine places all the genoicides and massacres hasppenned. Many of the actors in the movie were there at the time of the genocide in 1994. Afterall this is based on a true events.Watching this film truly immersed you deeply into the conflict of 1994. You truly feel like you were there and unfortunately powerless in being able to change what has already been so dramatically written into history.I felt so guilty that I, like many thousands if not millions of people living in the West had very little idea of what had happened in Rwanda. Granted I was only 11 years of age at the time; such a potent event in history deserves to be remembered by the world as a whole and never forgotten, especially by those who played little but an obvious participation in the events that occurred.The acting/cast and soundtracks are all faultless in taste and selection. I have not only never been so moved but never cried so much in one movie.It is only when you watch a movie like this you realise how so for granted you take your life and opportunities bestowed upon us here in the UK.The producers/actors/directors should be applauded for making what will be remembered at least in my heart as one of the best films in movie history. Such a pity that it will never get the worldwide acclaim even if silently, it truly deserves. Perhaps this is a reflection of the world we still live in. I honestly believe with time this will become a timeless classic and grow notorious as more people find this treasure in their local movie store.Buy it, rent it...just make sure you watch it.

freemantle_uk 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.

liberalgems This is a devastating film, which accurately recreates the nightmare of the Rwandan genocide. The bottom line is that one man was a true hero, and that person could have been you or me! The question we should all ask ourselves after watching Beyond The Gates - when is it worth laying down our life for another human being(s)? I have to admit, I only watched the beginning, a few segments in the middle, and the ending. It was too upsetting to watch it from beginning to end. I did, however, have enough motivation to act, and I have written a carefully written letter to someone currently serving in the U.S. Senate to:1. Substantially increase aide to Rwanda.2. Treat political refugees from around the world equally and with same high regard our government has given Cuban refuges 3. Issue a public apology to the people of Rwanda on behalf of the United States for the inappropriate behavior of the Clinton administration during the genocide.4. Advocate for a similar apology from the United Nations for their inappropriate behavior.5. Strengthen United Nation institutions so their cowardly behavior in Rwanda is never repeated again, a situation clearly shown in devastating fashion in "Beyond The Gates." 6. Have the U.S. Department of Education compile age appropriate curriculum to teach specifically about the Rwandan genocide and how governments can work to prevent, or intervene in, future genocides. I believe young people hear about what happened a long time ago, during World War 2, and they develop a false sense of security that an event like the Holocaust has never happened (or will ever happen) again.Even though I'm only one voice crying in the wilderness, I'm glad I had the nerve to hope for a better world!

robert-1277 John Hirt was not at all convincing in the role of Christopher, the Catholic priest; I got the distinct impression he was either too hot or bored to make a real effort. Otherwise the film was way ahead of 'Hotel Rwanda' which someone quite rightly said was too Americanised both in terms of plot and implementation, i.e. sanitised. Yes, why the makers had to make such an elementary mistake like giving the Belgian captain the insignia of a sergeant is quite beyond me. Small wonder the captain, Dominique Horwitz, also looked a touch cheesed off at times! Sadly, although a very effective vehicle for putting over the horrors of the Rwandan genocide at the time, I doubt very much 'Shooting Dogs'will make the very slightest difference to the plight of all sub-Saharan peoples currently exploited for their natural resources by the First World countries of both East and West.