Shake Hands with the Devil (2007)

In April 1994, the Rwandan genocide began. Over the course of roughly one hundred days, an estimated eight hundred thousand people, predominantly Tutsi civilians, were killed. Already present in the country was a small United Nations peacekeeping force, UNAMIR, under the command of Canadian Lieutenant General Roméo Dallaire. His repeated warnings to UN headquarters in New York went ignored, his requests for reinforcements were refused, and the rules of engagement under which his troops operated prevented him from acting to stop the slaughter unfolding around him. It is one of the most documented failures of international diplomacy in modern history, and Dallaire himself later wrote about it in his memoir, also titled Shake Hands with the Devil, published in 2003. That book went on to win the Governor General's Literary Award, Canada's most prestigious prize for non-fiction, and it is the source material on which this film is based.

The 2007 adaptation was directed by Roger Spottiswoode, a British-born, Canada-based filmmaker whose career stretches back to editorial work in the 1970s and directing credits including Under Fire (1983) and the James Bond entry Tomorrow Never Dies (1997). The production was a Canadian co-venture between Barna-Alper Productions, Halifax Film Company, and Head Gear Films, and it arrives very much in the tradition of serious, politically minded Canadian drama, a tradition worth acknowledging given that the country has produced some genuinely weighty work in the genre (including, at the lighter and stranger end of the spectrum, things like This Is Not a Test). Spottiswoode worked closely with Dallaire himself during production, and the general's involvement in verifying the accuracy of the screenplay gave the project an unusually rigorous claim to authenticity. The film runs at 112 minutes and makes no concessions toward spectacle or commercial polish, which suits its subject and sits it closer in spirit to something like 1917 in its seriousness of purpose, even if the two films are formally very different.

Roy Dupuis, a well-established figure in Québécois film and television, takes the central role of Dallaire. Dupuis is the kind of actor who works from the inside out, rarely raising his voice but communicating an enormous amount through posture and expression, which makes him a sensible, considered choice for a man whose anguish is largely internalised. He is supported by Owen Sejake, James Gallanders, Michel Ange Nzojibwami, and Michel Mongeau among others, a cast that blends Canadian and Rwandan performers in a way that lends the film some genuine texture. For those who appreciate history rendered on screen with care rather than convenience, this sits in interesting company alongside other serious-minded efforts reviewed here, among them Josep and No Dogs or Italians Allowed, both of which take real and painful histories and ask how cinema should treat them.

A-Z World Movie Tour Rwanda Shake Hands with the Devil (2007) is a tough, sobering watch, exactly as it should be. Based on the memoirs of Roméo Dallaire, the Canadian UN peacekeeper who witnessed the Rwandan genocide firsthand, the film puts you right into the horror of 1994 through the eyes of a man who was ordered to stand by and observe, but not intervene. That sense of helplessness, of screaming into a void while the world looks away, is absolutely heartbreaking. The film doesn’t go for cheap emotion, it’s quiet, restrained, and all the more powerful for it. Great cinematography captures the tension and dread, and the soundtrack, subtle but haunting with some amazing African singing, adds to the weight of every scene. Roy Dupuis delivers a committed, deeply felt performance as Dallaire. Exhausted, haunted, morally shattered. You can see the guilt eating at him in every frame. It’s not flashy, but it’s raw and real. The film sticks closely to the truth, reportedly checked line by line by Dallaire himself, which gives it a strong sense of authenticity. That respect for the real events is admirable and necessary. But for all its strengths, the pacing is slow, almost to a fault. At nearly two hours, it feels like it’s circling the same emotional and narrative ground without much variation. The tension never really breaks, but it doesn’t build much either. It’s methodical to a fault, and while that reflects the real-life paralysis of the UN mission, it also makes for a film that’s more important than gripping. It’s not meant to be entertaining, and it shouldn’t be, but sometimes, when reality is this grim and the structure so rigid, it can feel more like duty than drama.

I keep coming back to that word "duty," because it feels like the right one. There are films you admire and films you enjoy, and then there are films you feel you owe your full attention, even when they make that attention difficult to sustain. This sits firmly in the third category. The restraint Spottiswoode brings to the material is honourable, and Dupuis earns every quiet, broken moment he is given. The film's slow accumulation of helplessness is, as I say, probably the most honest way to represent what Dallaire actually lived through, even if it comes at a dramatic cost. It won't sit comfortably on a shelf next to popcorn fare, nor should it. Sometimes a film's value is measured less by how much it entertains and more by how long it stays with you after the credits roll. This one lingers.

Rating: ★★★  | Year: 2007  | Watched: 2025-08-28

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Trailer

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