Sometimes In April Movie Analysis

When Paradise Became Hell

The Rwandan genocide is an event that many want to forget and overcome. In those hundred days nearly one million Rwandans lost their lives or loved ones. Both Hotel Rwanda and Sometimes In April are excellent teaching tools for studying the causes of the Rwandan genocide, the ways acts of genocide were committed and fueled and the importance of family during this tragic event. However, Sometimes In April does a better job at depicting the violence in the region at the time, the confusion about the “good guys vs. bad guys” and the post-war sentiment and struggle faced by the Rwandan people.

The causes of the Rwandan genocide were clearly explained in both movies. The explanation of the history of Rwanda gave viewers

background on the nation and helps them grasp why the genocide occurred. The introduction to Sometimes In April includes a brief summarized history of the cause of Rwanda’s power struggle.
“For centuries the Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa of Rwanda shared the same culture, language and religion. In 1916, Belgium took control of Rwanda from Germany and installed a rigid colonial system of racial classification and exploitation. By elevating the Tutsi over the Hutu, they created deep resentment among the Hutu majority. In 1959, the Belgians handed control of Rwanda to the Hutu majority. With independence came decades of institutionalized anti-Tutsi segregation and massacre. Hundreds of thousands of Tutsis and moderate Hutus were forced into exile. In 1988, some of these refugees formed a rebel movement called the Rwandan Patriotic front to reclaim their homeland. 1990, from their base in Uganda, the RPF launched an offensive against the Hutu regime that was stopped with French and Belgian military support. A deadly cycle of war and massacre continued until 1993, when the United Nations negotiated a power-sharing agreement between the two sides. To protect their power, hardline Hutu extremists resisted the implementation of the agreements and planned one of the most terrifying genocides in history.”
In Hotel Rwanda, a camera man gets the same amount of information from a local journalist. He asks what the differences between Hutus and Tutsi were and Benedict explains the pseudo-science behind the choosing of the elites. He states that “according to the Belgian colonists the Tutsis are taller and more elegant. It was the Belgians that created the division. They picked people those with thinner noses, lighter skin. They used to measure the width of people's noses.” Jack then turns to the two women beside him at the bar and asks them if they are Hutu or Tutsi. The first woman says she is Hutu and her friend says she is Tutsi. Jack looks back at Benedict astonished and proclaims “They could be twins.” The history of Rwanda shows a prevalent problem of racism, or colorism within the black community specifically, and the effects of colonialism. When teaching about any genocide the roots of the conflict are important to understand. The class divisions and hatred that was the fuel to the genocide was not one that was always present in the region. Distinguishing between the two groups of people was difficult. There are no clear physical difference between the civilians because of the shared blood between many Hutu and Tutsi. The main identifier used to persecute one another was ID cards which listed a person’s affiliation to one culture or the other. Hutus and Tutsis also share the same languages, culture and religions. So really how can one tell? The division was not something caused by the Hutu or Tutsi people themselves. Colonists proclaimed that Tutsi were more elegant, therefore more civilized. It is very important to understand how these tensions arose to cause conflict. The Belgian colonists are directly to blame for these intense divisions of power.
In both films, the ways that acts of genocide were committed were clearly shown. The killings that occurred in Rwanda were extremely violent. Radio Broadcasts were important in escalating racial tensions. Weapons provided by other nations were particularly important on both sides of the conflict, machetes and automatic guns being the weapon of choice for the perpetrators of genocide. The RTLM radio was mentioned in both movies. In Sometimes in April the main character’s brother, Honore, was a radio personality who was for the cleansing of the Tutsi. His broadcasts were referred to as “historical reviews” by the D.J.’s that played popular music before his segment. His tribunal, along with that of other perpetrators of the war, was the setting of the present day events in the film. His power within the community is clearly shown as the movie progresses. He is able to pass the roadblocks with ease to return to his brother’s home. He is also able to protect his brother for a small amount of time by burying his brother’s name from the list of traitors he was supposed to broadcast. Hotel Rwanda begins with sound clips from different radio broadcasts. The most important being a small segment from RTLM at the end.
“The latest ceasefire came too late to save these villages...Today President Clinton voiced concerns at the deteriorating situation in Sarajevo...When people ask me, good listeners, why do I hate all the Tutsi? I say, "Read our history.” The Tutsi were collaborators for the Belgian colonists. They stole our Hutu land, they whipped us. Now they have come back, these Tutsi rebels, they are cockroaches. They are murderers. Rwanda is our Hutu land. We are the majority. They are a minority of traitors and invaders. We will squash the infestation. We will wipe out the RPF rebels. This is RTLM, Hutu Power Radio. Stay alert. Watch your neighbors.”
The introduction to Hotel Rwanda does a wonderful job of summarizing how hate radio was utilized to spark hatred and encourage the masses to commit genocide. The radio broadcasts were used to distribute names of Rwandans known to be traitors Tutsi or Hutu. The militia would then keep a look out for these names at roadblocks or in homes being raided and destroyed. The radio was a weapon even more accessible than a machete. Only one person needed to own a radio for a broadcast to reach a dozen or more people. Handheld radios were seen throughout both movies, especially at roadblocks where Hutus gathered. They stopped passersby to question them and ensure they were not Tutsi or traitors. Addresses of people considered traitors were distributed through the radio, making these targets much more accessible to their murderers. The station also regularly aired 90s pop music, flawlessly displaying how the hatred of these ethnic groups was an everyday thing for most listeners.
Also in the film Sometimes in April the main character, Augustine, was a solider in the Rwandan army.

In an early scene, the commander is seen listing the weapons in his possession. As we walks he says “Thanks to the support of our French friends, we have Kalashnikov from Albania, Israel Uzis, Czech grenades, M-16 rifles from the USA, guns and armor from Egypt…machetes from China…they’re here and we have plenty of farmers that need to go to work [“work” was a euphemism for killing used commonly over the airwaves in Rwanda during this time].” The world may not have intervened much or early enough in Rwanda, but it was easy to see what side of the war many countries supported or supplied indirectly. In Hotel Rwanda, Paul Rusesabagina was close friends with George Rutaganda the vice president of the Rwandan Hutu militia Interahamwe. Rusesabagina was picking up supplies from Rutaganda when a crate full of machetes was accidently opened, he picks one up and tells Rusesabagina they are “a bargain buy from China, 10 cents each. You know I’ll get a decent 50 for each.” To this Paul Rusesabagina responds “at least.” The main weapon that is a definitive symbol of this genocide was the machete. Machetes later make an appearance in both films in the hands of many Hutu militia men. Their signature scare tactic with these weapons is to scrape the metal blades against the ground. It was a widely available weapon, both movies mentioning their origins in China. This was the weapon of choice because not only was it widely available, but many Rwandans were farmers. The agriculture background of many of the civilians that made up the armies gave them the skills needed to use a machete. The weapon was not only a killing tool, but a tool used as part of their everyday lives. By distributing a common weapon, one that many people already had access to, the Hutu forces were able to organize a specific method of killing in which the majority of Hutu people could participate. The machete can

be seen as a stand in for the intense hatred of Tutsis by the Hutus and vice versa. Both the machete and hatred were part of people’s everyday lives and came to play a huge role in the genocide that occurred.