With depressing regularity, the behavior of humans on this planet devolves into something so far removed from those qualities which are supposed to set us apart from the other species that it truly boggles the mind. This movie is an attempt to portray one of those instances of inexplicable behavior, the Darfur Genocide, and it does an excellent job of it.
The cover art on the Video release is deceiving, you will not see Billy Zane as an action hero, ala Bruce Willis in Tears of the Sun or Leonardo DiCaprio in Blood Diamond - there is more than enough "action" in the second half, however.
This is also not The Killing Fields or Hotel Rwanda; it is somewhat more creative and poignant than those classics because it relies on unscripted dialogue, many actual survivors as actors and because this occurrence in the Sudan is still underway at the present time, unlike the Cambodian and Rwandan instances which were brought to the screen 10 years afterwords.
What you have here instead is a somewhat raw microcosm of genocide and the confusion of the world to deal with it; brought to you in a manner which is both immersive and which raises many legitimate questions. You could close your eyes for some parts or leave it out of your DVD player altogether - but you'll be somewhat less of a human for having done so.
The cover art on the Video release is deceiving, you will not see Billy Zane as an action hero, ala Bruce Willis in Tears of the Sun or Leonardo DiCaprio in Blood Diamond - there is more than enough "action" in the second half, however.
This is also not The Killing Fields or Hotel Rwanda; it is somewhat more creative and poignant than those classics because it relies on unscripted dialogue, many actual survivors as actors and because this occurrence in the Sudan is still underway at the present time, unlike the Cambodian and Rwandan instances which were brought to the screen 10 years afterwords.
What you have here instead is a somewhat raw microcosm of genocide and the confusion of the world to deal with it; brought to you in a manner which is both immersive and which raises many legitimate questions. You could close your eyes for some parts or leave it out of your DVD player altogether - but you'll be somewhat less of a human for having done so.