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Reviews of Recent Independent, Foreign, & Documentary Films in Theaters and DVD/Home Video
SHAKE HANDS WITH THE DEVIL: THE JOURNEY OF ROMÉO DALLAIRE
In 1993, the United Nations sent Canadian General Roméo Dallaire to Rwanda to lead a barebones force, whose
mission was to guard the peace between the country's two rival ethnic groups, the Hutu majority
and Tutsi minority. (Nick Nolte played the tough U.N. colonel loosely based on Dallaire in the
recent film Hotel Rwanda.) The general filed repeated reports warning of a possible
massacre by Hutu militias, but the U.N. and the international community failed to respond.
Eventually 800,000 Rwandans, mostly Tutsi, were killed. Dallaire resigned his position, haunted
by the images of the dead. Since his return to civilian life, the guilt-stricken Dallaire has
struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder and attempted suicide twice. Now 10 years later, he
returns to Rwanda with his wife in search of peace.
Director Peter Raymont follows Dallaire from his former office in the Kigali U.N. headquarters to Amahoro Stadium, where he
helplessly witnessed thousands of refugees starve to death. Dallaire tentatively explores his surroundings, first just peering
from windows of taxis and private cars, and then immersing himself in visits to local
communities, churches and graves. Raymont tracks his progression almost like a therapist, giving
Dallaire the time and space needed to revisit the past.
The documentary's hazy news footage of the escalating violence and grotesque images of killings and death, coupled with
interviews from Dallaire's colleagues and historians, leave viewers with a sense of frustration and despair over the impending
chaos. A powerful film, Shake Hands with the Devil is not only about the Rwandan genocide, but also a story of
compassion and the possibility of hope and healing. Deborah Lynn Blumberg
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