The film, "Kinyarwanda," filmed by Alrick Brown, has a unique perspective on the Rwandan genocide, as well as the Islamic religion widely practiced in Rwanda. I have mixed feelings about this specific film. I liked and also disliked the flashback factor integrated in the film. It was very cool and unique, but it also made the film much harder to follow. It was a very cool touch that the director added into the making of the film. Director, Alrick Brown, is from Kingston, Jamaica, and he served in the peace corps for several years. Therefore, Brown has a multicultural perspective on many world issues, this including the Rwandan genocide. Often portrayed in a negative way, Alrick Brown shows the hidden good side of the people stuck within the Rwandan genocide. This is often something we miss with American films -- the different global perspectives on a subject. What we may think in America and our views could be totally twisted to what the actual impact and turnout to the event ended up being in different countries where those problems take place. Other countries' views could be totally twisted to what we think happened, so it is refreshing to receive a clean, global perspective from a person who knows more about the Rwandan culture than I do.
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lischneider20 October 2016
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zutterjp487 May 2019At the time of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, the Mufti of Rwanda issued a fatwa forbidding Muslim from participating in the killing of Tutsi.Therefore mosques became places of refuge where Muslims and Christians, Hutu and Tutsi came together to protect each other.Amidst this chaos in which the Hutu married with Tutsi women were menaced a young Tutsi woman and a young Hutu man fall in love (I have lived 4 years in Rwanda in the 70s and mixt marriages Hutu-Tutsi were common).So the film shows how people in Rwanda intented to help each other in his tremendous moments of hate.The film shows also the efforts for the reconciliation !! Kinyarwanda is a very good film.
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cacrawford-6082525 October 2016This film showed the good and bad times during the Rwandan Genocide. The film chose to leave out scenes of people dying, leaving the viewer to imagine the pain that the Rwandan people had to go through throughout the movie. This approach was somewhat confusing, because it made the genocide not seem as deadly as it actually was. "Kinyarwanda" decided to focus on the rehabilitation of the Hutu and Tutsi survivors after the genocide. This was shown through the re-eduKation camps. Previous men in the Hutu army had to apologize to the victims of the Tutsi deaths. One of the main characters, Jeanne, had her parents killed by a Hutu. It was a very powerful scene, mainly because of how sorry the man was, and how badly he wanted Jeanne to accept his apology. At first I was confused as to why the re-eduKation camp was in the movie, but the point of it was made very clear at the very end. It was made very clear that the Hutus wanted the Tutsi's forgiveness, because they were truly sorry for what they had done. Overall, this movie showed the brighter side of the Genocide, pertaining to the recovery and rehabilitation that occurred after the fact.
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jahouston-9699420 October 2016After watching Hotel Rwanda, this film gives you a different perspective. Hotel Rwanda seemed to show more of the rich people staying in the hotel trying to save their lives. Yes, they were being threatened but they did get to stay in a very nice hotel. Also, those people had very powerful friends who tried to help them. In this film it was different, the "average" person's life seemed to be on display. Some of the things that happened were really hard to imagine. Specifically, when a girl came home and both her parents were dead. She Left the house and never got to apologize to her parents. Then, later in the film she somehow forgave the people who killed her parents. Maybe killings are so common that people are just expected to not hold a grudge over that or something, but it seems like if someone had killed my parents I wouldn't have forgiven them just because they asked.
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pacoundouriotis20 October 2016I have mixed feelings on this film. There were some things I really liked about it and other things I wasn't too fond of. I didn't really like how it followed so many different stories at once. The movie was very hard to follow for most of it and a lot of the transitions happened at the worst times in the film. It was an interesting approach for production however. It was a good idea, just slightly poorly executed in my opinion. Apart from that, the information portrayed in the film was very good. It showed may different perspectives. Unlike Hotel Rwanda, this film showed the Rwandan Genocide from the perspective of the Tutsi civilians and the Hutus and Muslims that were not involved. I liked the scene where all the high priority Muslims of the mosque got together and peacefully discussed what they should do about the current events. I thought this film was a lot more realistic and down to earth than Hotel Rwanda. I also really liked how the director decided to put in scenes from the Re-Education camps. I found it astonishing that most of the people that participated in the genocide were just normal human beings like us that had no grime on the Tutsis. They only participated because they jumped on the bandwagon so they wouldn't get killed.
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rpm2353 February 2011I went to a screening of this film with the director and cinematographer who did a great Q&A. It simply blew me away. It's full of incredible and moving performances by a cast of mainly first-time actors. It's a series of expertly interwoven short stories -- all based on true stories -- each of which will stick with you. It's a gripping, suspenseful tale that also does a remarkable job of showing the humanity, the hopes, the humor, and the dreams of Rwandans. Hearing how this film got made so beautifully at such a low budget was truly inspiring. Filmmakers should go see it to see what is possible to do on a low budget these days -- though really anyone with a dream would be well-severed to watch it.
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logatherum20 October 2016I liked this film, and my favorite part was when one of the men said "do not mistake the actions of God with the actions of man", which I thought was interesting, especially for a religious figure to say, since people often mix up the two. I also noticed that there were a few different stories going on, which I had never seen before! I thought that the director putting titles before every story was so helpful and reminded me of a documentary, which also made the film that much more realistic. I thought it was probably a bit more realistic than Hotel Rwanda, too, which was pretty obviously an American film. The ending in Hotel Rwanda was a little happier and did not have nearly as much gore, I think I liked Kinyarwanda a little more. I appreciate the realistic aspect, and I find it interesting when films do not follow the Hollywood plot line that I am so used to and that I expect! I also feel that we owe the victims the truth, and putting a happier spin on the Genocide like Hotel Rwanda, is kind of degrading, since it's just simply not what happened. We did not really see any character deaths in Hotel Rwanda (other than when Paul drove down that road) yet people were dying everywhere and it was so brutal. We also did not get to see the extent of the brutality in Hotel Rwanda. I did think it was sweet when the girl forgave the man for killing her parents, as well because I did not expect it.
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thmurphy-3741420 October 2016This film is very different from any American film I have ever seen. Yes, the director is from Jaimaica, and learned his film style in America, but the movie is not an American film. The story line is nothing like an American film either. There's a certain time line that is always followed throughout the film in America, yet you can tell that even though the Director learned film in America, it is a different style. The movie is taking different cuts throughout the whole film, and it is going left and right. You must pay a lot of attention to detail to understand what is going on throughout the film. At one moment someone is being killed and then there is a jump to the end, and then when you least expect it, you are back at the beginning on the story. The main point for this, I believe, is the importance to express the view of everyone in the film. I believe that everyone you see in this film will have their story told. Now to talk about the difference between Hotel Rwanda and Kinyarwanda, Hotel Rwanda is an American film as it follows the same exact story line of sadness then happiness. Then the Kinyarwanda movie is exactly what I have already explained. A very odd story line, but it gets the point across. To give everyone in the movie that does not have a voice in the world, a voice. I recommend that you watch this film, but as you watch it be very attentive towards the series of events.
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tadegeare20 October 2016Kinyarwanda was a very informational film. It was interesting how one movie was able to give a story on many different aspects of the actual genocide in Rwanda. It showed the lives of regular people who were just trying to get on through the day, the girl who was Tutsi and her "boyfriend" who was Hutu. It caused me to understand why this movie, in my opinion, was hard to follow. It was because there were so many different stories being told in just the span of a movie. The Hutus during the actual genocide, the Hutus after the genocide in the re-edukation camps, the Tutsi trying to survive during the genocide, and then the Tutsi rebels who came to the rescue for the Tutsi that were hiding. This film showed all of these stories in one movie and was trying to display the reality and impact of the genocide in each of these groups of people's lives and that is really difficult to do. I think that it was done really well for the task that was trying to be completed and the movie in the end did what it was meant to do.
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brszasz23 October 2016Personally, I really liked the film. I found it really interesting how stories tended to jump around. It was interesting watching the same scenes over, but with a different perspective from many different people. When the movie started, we saw Jean finally come to a party. We, later, figured out that she disobeyed her parents and snuck out of her house. She later found her parents dead at her house. I thought it was smart how it connected the series of events together over time. Along with the parental discovery, we saw the walk home with a couple of different views to it. The whole movie was unique in a really good way. I did like the ending of when they were saved by the soldiers. It led to one of the quieter people in the camp admitting that he was the one that killed Jean's parents. It showed how people can be accepted when asked for forgiveness. It tied up a nice movie with a very solid ending.
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magilroy13 December 2016Kinyarwanda, which was directed by Alrick Brown, is a movie that takes places during the Rwandan Genocide. Throughout the movie, we watch a few different perspectives from different types of people during the genocide. Some include the leader of a mosque and a little girl whose parents were both killed for being tutsis. The film is very inspiring as it shows people of different beliefs coming together to protect each other. At one point in the movie, the leader of the mosque opens up the doors to his mosque as a refuge for those being targeted by the Hutus including even Christians. The director did an excellent job of bringing different people together at the end, but the movie was a little confusing as it switched from the present to flashbacks without differentiating the two very well and only becoming clear after watching the movie. Overall, Alrick Brown does an amazing job of mixing his global perspectives into the film that has allowed me to see the Rwandan Genocide through someone else's eyes. I believe this film deserves an 8/10 rating because it was very insightful and interesting to watch.
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sunnysarasota20 October 2016Overall I thought this was a very interesting film. I particularly liked how the film maker decided to use different stories in the film, and intertwined them together, as well as using flashbacks. This film showed many problems that went on during the Rwandan genocide, like the conflicting problems between the Hutus and the Tutsis. This film tried to show that with all the violence that went on during the genocide, and some of the people who decided to act violently by murdering their own people, there were others who decided to risk their lives in order to save the ones who were about to get murdered. This portrayed that the genocide was not all bad, there were people who decided to help others who were in danger of getting killed, like the military soldiers who were trained in Uganda, and decided to rescue the people who were in the middle of the genocide, but were not a part of committing violent crimes, and murder. This film showed how religious freedom and peace was an important role for those who were against the genocide, and the ones involved in it. This film is not American, but it does share some similar things to American films, like the happy ending at the end of the film, most American films have happy endings, so it was interesting to see that as well in this film, and how they spoke both English and Kinyarwanda. I would not change anything about this film, and therefore would give it a 4/5 stars.
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magonzalez-1576223 October 2016Kinyarwanda was a very motivational movie to watch. It went through the rehabilitation process of extremest Hutu's after the Rwandan Genocide and showed how people of different religions in the community came together in order to protect each other, despite their differences. There were some parts of the film that I did not understand however, and that made it somewhat confusing. The story doesn't progress in a linear fashion, instead, it jumps around to different periods of time and different perspectives. That made it very difficult not only to distinguish between characters, but understand what was happening. I did like it for its artistic choice however. It was very interesting to see the story through other character's eyes. I was also confused about the Rwandan Genocide. I know that this doesn't have to do with anything about the movie, but the Genocide confused me still. Why did so many people want to kill each other and hurt each other?
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MikeyB179311 May 2016This movie had a somewhat different approach. It was an all-African cast. The flow of the film could be unpredictable – and would lead you into unexpected areas. On a number of occasions some of the scenes surprised me – and I mean this in a positive way. The dialogue approached the profound. This film makes you listen and watch with intensity. There is nothing superficial here.
This film was about what different people did during the Rwandan genocide. As expected some behaved very badly – and others more admirably. The violence was there – but it was suggested violence. There are men with machetes – and you know very well what this will lead to as they enter a room or a building.
Perhaps there was a religious angle in the film that was somewhat over-stressed, but I can live with that. -
rjbarber-067166 November 2016This film is very good. I believe its style could be described as emotional and sentimental. Much of it is in English but much is reading subtitles.
The film did not go into very much broad historical detail about the event, such as the stocking of machetes in advance, the plane going down, the massacre of the Belgian soldiers, etc., which is fine because other movies and documentaries have already accomplished this.
It does make verbal references to the "chopping", in the context of confessions. One person confesses to chopping off a baby's head. But there are only two scenes with violence or blood.
What is different and interesting about this film in comparison with others of the same subject is the way the stories of individuals overlap. There is also a discussion among Imams about what to do, and a contrast in actions and attitudes of two Imams toward the same priest.
I have a bad short-term memory which led to confusion but I will happily watch again. The minor flaws in this movie are outweighed by its intelligence and uniqueness, its inspirational characters, and its examination of repentance and forgiveness in the context of that event. The feel-good ending lets you view a lovely African custom. -
drhupp20 October 2016Kinyarwanda was a film that took place in the country of Rwanda in Africa. In the beginning of the film, everything seemed to be fine, showing no ethnic discrimination, until people were seen lined up in the streets at night after Tutsi's had been captured hiding in a church. Then a character came home one night to see that her parents had been murdered by a Hutu, that would be an awful experience that I'm hoping would never happen to me or someone I know. For a movie filmed in Rwanda it seemed pretty Americanized, English was the main language in the movie and it had a sort of happy ending like an American film. This was of course because the director was Jamaican, so English was the language. Personally, I liked the ending of the movie and don't think there's anything much different that could have happened to make the film better.