Hotel Rwanda, Beyond Gates and now 100 Days, these are all movies I have watched that depict the Rwandan Genocide. All directors have chosen to focus on different aspects of this horrid genocide. The latest movie that I watched was 100 Days directed by Nick Hughes. This movie begins by allowing the audience see a young couple showing their love for each other. Everything in the first scene is so calm and joyous, almost like the calm before the storm. Had I not known what movie I was watching the first thought would have been that this movie is about the two lovers, however that idea quickly disappears as the next scene is of two men discussing elimination of a population.
Most movies have depicted the killing of the Tutsis that took place during 100 days, and one cannot say anything other then experiencing chills down the spin. Any killing of a soul is beyond my understanding and watching movies that show me hundreds of people being killed just stuns me. 100 Days does allow the viewer to see that the Hutus have suffered for a long time and finally they had enough. I never thought of that, if I had been oppressed would I also have enough and fight back? NOTHING justifies the actions of the Hutus or the Tutsis prior to the genocide and that is what Nick Hughes is trying to illustrate with this movie.
One aspect that really caught my attention was the strategic use of close up on some of the characters eyes. Not only do all of them have beautiful eyes but it is true that the eye is the window to the soul. The scene with the two men speaking of killing all Tutsis the director zooms in on one of the men and his eye, this shows the audience the anger and vile thoughts he is experiencing at that moment. The camera is not the only thing that lets the audience see the true side of the characters but also the actors, the actors in this movie were amazing and they really depict true emotions making the impact stronger, no matter what the impact was. One scene the zoom on one of the characters eyes showed fear, another showed lies and then there was love.
The director really used something as simple as the eyes to get his message through in a stronger manner. When the movie was over the one thing that stood out, imprinted in my brain, was the usage of zoom of the eyes. However there is one other scene that I cannot fail to mention and that is the very last scene. When Josette (a Tutsi and the lover to Baptist that were shown in the first scene) gives birth to a girl, which was consummated through rape by the priest, a Hutu, she goes to the forest to leave the child to die and a boy from the Tutsi army watches her as she walks to the waterfall and puts the baby and walks away. The boy goes up to the baby that had been abandoned and sits on the rock cradling the baby in his arms. When Josette leaves the baby to die the water of the waterfall is colored red and the waterfall turns from a serene and beautiful thing to something that is stained by the blood that had been shed in the genocide and what will stay with Josette forever. However when the boy picks up the baby the water once again goes back to clear white, just as it was before Josette arrived. This is a beautiful symbol of hope, hope for the future generation bringing peace to a land that has suffered misery for too long. The director leaves the audience crying yet with hope of goodness and innocencethat can only be found in children. A beautiful ending to a sad story.
Most movies have depicted the killing of the Tutsis that took place during 100 days, and one cannot say anything other then experiencing chills down the spin. Any killing of a soul is beyond my understanding and watching movies that show me hundreds of people being killed just stuns me. 100 Days does allow the viewer to see that the Hutus have suffered for a long time and finally they had enough. I never thought of that, if I had been oppressed would I also have enough and fight back? NOTHING justifies the actions of the Hutus or the Tutsis prior to the genocide and that is what Nick Hughes is trying to illustrate with this movie.
One aspect that really caught my attention was the strategic use of close up on some of the characters eyes. Not only do all of them have beautiful eyes but it is true that the eye is the window to the soul. The scene with the two men speaking of killing all Tutsis the director zooms in on one of the men and his eye, this shows the audience the anger and vile thoughts he is experiencing at that moment. The camera is not the only thing that lets the audience see the true side of the characters but also the actors, the actors in this movie were amazing and they really depict true emotions making the impact stronger, no matter what the impact was. One scene the zoom on one of the characters eyes showed fear, another showed lies and then there was love.
The director really used something as simple as the eyes to get his message through in a stronger manner. When the movie was over the one thing that stood out, imprinted in my brain, was the usage of zoom of the eyes. However there is one other scene that I cannot fail to mention and that is the very last scene. When Josette (a Tutsi and the lover to Baptist that were shown in the first scene) gives birth to a girl, which was consummated through rape by the priest, a Hutu, she goes to the forest to leave the child to die and a boy from the Tutsi army watches her as she walks to the waterfall and puts the baby and walks away. The boy goes up to the baby that had been abandoned and sits on the rock cradling the baby in his arms. When Josette leaves the baby to die the water of the waterfall is colored red and the waterfall turns from a serene and beautiful thing to something that is stained by the blood that had been shed in the genocide and what will stay with Josette forever. However when the boy picks up the baby the water once again goes back to clear white, just as it was before Josette arrived. This is a beautiful symbol of hope, hope for the future generation bringing peace to a land that has suffered misery for too long. The director leaves the audience crying yet with hope of goodness and innocencethat can only be found in children. A beautiful ending to a sad story.
3 comments:
Wow, even a week after watching the film, and I still cannot fully express my thoughts as coherently as I hope. At any rate, your essay does a great job in analyzing the film. I’m surprised we have that many films on such a tragic event and yet these events still exist and occur today. Like you said in your response to my blog, we can only hope that the future generation (and hey, why not our own) will learn a thing or two from this story.
Anyway, back to your critique. I actually want to add to you analysis of the first scene of the film, because the focus on the eyes was particularly well orchestrated. I recall that the eyes of the official were bewildered, frantic, wide and large. I was actually scared of his eyes (okay, and what he was saying was scaring me), but his eyes heightened the savagery of it all.
As for the last scene, the waterfall scene, I found that so touching. Josette, blood-stained, stains the waterfall with the blood she didn’t even help shed, but helplessly watched be shed. I think the bloody waterfall could be a symbol of her rape, too, Ranna, maybe her lost innocence is what nature reflects upon. The small boy, quite innocently, picks up her child and nurses it. The boy’s not identified as a Hutu or a Tutsi, because, it really doesn’t matter. “We Are All Rwandans,” I think that’s the point.
It's amazing, I watched this movie sitting right next to you and we both picked up such remarkably different aspects!
You are so right about the close ups on the eyes. Hughes, I agree, is an absolute GENIUS. But I hadn't even thought of the significance of the eye shots. The camera can be a distancing thing, but that distance didn't come through in this film. Somehow the characters seemed closer, almost palpable. I didn't realize until reading your blog that this comes specifically from the close ups on the eyes! This makes perfect sense. When we speak to someone we make eye contact during the conversation. We feel closer and we understand better their point when we do this. After all, we do say, "eyes are the windows to the soul." How clever for Hughes to use this unconcsious trick to help his audience connect to the characters!
Hi Ranna!
I really liked the last scene at the waterfall, too. I definitely got a sense of hope from the boy picking up the baby (both the boy and the baby were dressed in tranquil light blue), especially when the director pans up to the clear, blue sky. That, too, gave me a feeling of hope and better days to come.
Keli
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