Five Stars, Movie Reviews - Friday, September 28, 2007 22:33 - 2 Comments

Beyond the Gates (DVD)

The world finally gets a chance to witness the true testimony of the Rwandan Genocide in its full fury. The release of Hotel Rwanda in 2004 was a very important step in sharing the story of the Rwanda conflict. Many people were unaware of the atrocities that took place in the small African country, and the release of Rwanda opened up the eyes of many people. Beyond the Gates took the story one step further and solidified the event as one of most mishandled international tragedies in recent history.

What made Beyond the Gates such a special film was the fact that many of its production crew were actual survivors of the Rwandan conflict. The fact that the hearts and souls of these survivors were poured into the production of the film made this movie a success, and it is very evident as you watch the film.

After watching this movie, I felt Hotel Rwanda was very soft compared to this film. This was the reason that I thought Beyond the Gates was a much better depiction of the actual events that shook the African nation in 1994. Although brutal and barbaric in nature, the violence you see in the film is warranted. The picture is brutally honest, realistic, and religious which may be one of the reasons why it didn’t make it into many of the major box offices. Regardless, this film will delve into your emotions and you will be completely overwhelmed and seized by the events that took place during those tragic months.

I would highly recommend this film to anyone looking for a good film to watch. The hardest thing about all of this is the fact that even after all these movies and lessons we should have learned, the United Nations still sits stagnant on the events occurring today in Darfur. What will it take to stop the senseless killing of people?