Disjointed TV picture trying too hard. A couple of good actors surrounded by stilted performances from everyone else. Debra Winger and that guy who plays the FBI agent in The Americans act as if they got their scripts the hour before and we're given only one take. Most everything happens in the narration and long pauses. No subtitles when the native language is spoken, so unless you speak the language you're clueless as to what they are saying. Lots of heavy handed music, in case you didn't get it that the genocide is bad.

From the 6th of April to mid-July 1994, the citizens of Rwanda found themselves locked in a harrowing world of genocide and ethnic violence. For those three months, at best, the rest of the world watched as Rwanda dissolved into chaos. At worst, the world turned its back on the self-immolating nation. During these 100 days, both foreign nations and other Rwandans stood by as genocide tore apart families, precipitated over 800,000 casualties, and allowed a majority to attempt the extermination of an entire ethnic group unabated. Raoul Peck's 2005 film Sometimes in April captured these atrocities— and many more— in its two hours of footage shot on-location in Rwanda. The film chronicled the genocide through the relationships of two brothers, Augustin and Honoré Muganza. These Hutu men found themselves torn apart by violence and by opposing political dogmas. Augustin, a member of the Rwandan army, married a Tutsi woman, and thus violated both Rule 1 and Rule 7 of the Hutu Ten Commandments. His brother, Honoré, however, stood in a completely different position at the outbreak of genocide. As a leading journalist on Radio RTLM, he spread Hutu hate propaganda throughout the Rwanda air waves. These differing positions led to a ten-year silence between the two brothers, after Honoré proved unable to escort Augustin's Tutsi family members safely from Kigali.Peck's story began ten years after the genocide, with the dawn of yet another April, causing Augustin to reflect upon the past. From there, Peck carried his audience back to the horrific days in 1994. Through frequent flashbacks and flash forwards, the audience follows two sequences of events. First, we see Augustin's difficult, 2004 decision to travel to the International Criminal Tribunals in Tanzania, in order to speak to Honoré for the first time in a decade. Second, we see the horrible events of 1994 unfold as they happen, both in the bedlam of Rwanda and in the United States' bureaucracy. The film emphasizes the complete discord between events on the ground in Rwanda and the actions of the world at large. While Rwandans remember 1994 as the year of over 800,000 deaths, Americans remember it as the year Kurt Cobain died. Peck perhaps proved most successful in establishing this terrible irony: both at the time and in retrospect, the slaughter of an ethnic group garnered less attention than the suicide of a drug-addled American musician. The terrible yet undeniable truth of this message stings, but provides an important reality check.Also interestingly, the film declined to name a scapegoat outright; within each group that played a role the genocide, Sometimes in April found forces of both good and evil. For example, amongst the Hutus, the cold calculations of Colonel Bagosora contrasted with the kindness of the woman who sheltered Martine and her students; in the American government, the inefficient bureaucracy stood at odds with Prudence Bushnell's fierce campaigns for more action. The final message, however, lacked no ambiguity. It accused all those who stood aside and watched, no matter the vantage point. Whether one lived on the streets of Kilgari or observed from halfway around the world, Peck denounced all those who had the ability and the responsibility to end the genocide. Those who did not act, the film insinuated, should feel the most guilt. The final shot listed the indictments and conventions from the ICC trials, but quite clearly communicated the bias of this film: "of those who watched the genocide unfold, and did nothing to stop it, no one has been charged." This ominous statement is both an accusation for the past, and a warning for future indifference.Sometimes in April is, at times, violent and heart-wrenching, but such characteristics allowed Peck to capture the horrors of genocide. Raw and bloody, the film refused to gloss over the horror's that occurred during Rwanda's worst 100 days. Through a fictionalized plot, Sometimes in April portrayed very real events, as well as a clear message that condemned the international response to the Rwandan genocide.

This is a very powerful movie. Presented in a somewhat documentary style as far as subtitles. Was very hard to watch. Had to pause the DVD and walk away a few times to catch my breath. Watching this instilled even more how useless the United Nations really is and how hypocritical and asinine the American politicians and spokespeople were during Clinton's administration. So sad the world let this happen and now it's repeating itself in the Congo. Again - Where's the U.N.? Debating BS as usual and doing noting but putting their heads in the sands. They were formed to stop things like this from happening again, but it just shows the world what a USELESS ORGANIZATION the United Nations really is.WARNING - this really is a powerful and hard-hitting motion picture and not sanitized like Hotel Rwanda, which in itself was also a very good motion picture. If you watch with young kids, you will have to stop and explain things. Not for the faint hearted or young children. Graphic "real live" camera video from the actual genocide that took place in Rwanda.

This movie is excellent. I watched Hotel Rwanda and always thought it had this Hollywood touch to it that just took something from it. Sometimes in April is raw in its capture of the brutality, realistic in the portrayal of the dilemma of the tutsis and moderate hutus and captivating in the scenes after the genocide was over and people tried to move on. I think the use of some African actors also helped make it very real. I ended up in tears - usually a sign that the movie did its job. I wish I could meet some of the tutsis and moderate hutus and find out how they managed to move on or forgive. Certainly one of the best movies I have ever seen!!!