Shake Hands with the Devil

General Romeo Dallaire, head of the United Nations peacekeeping force stationed in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide, did not fail: rather, the world failed him by refusing to support his repeated pleas to use military intervention in the face of growing tensions. Ultimately, the U.N. peacekeepers did not keep the peace, and 800,000 people were killed. Filmmaker Peter Raymont's Shake Hands with the Devil follows General Dallaire as he returns to Rwanda some 10 years after the horrific events. Issues of race and ethnicity clearly played a troubling role in the global reaction to the situation in Rwanda—U.N. and U.S. intervention during the Balkan crisis at the same time was swift and well-financed, but both also did everything in their power to marginalize and downplay Rwanda (to the point of the Clinton administration's angry refusal to use the word “genocide”). The pressure on Dallaire was extraordinary (after leaving Rwanda, he twice attempted suicide), yet his heroism wasn't acknowledged until much later, after it became clear that he had saved thousands of lives despite official orders not to intervene in the crisis. While the return to Rwanda may not have been thoroughly therapeutic for Dallaire, this film does offer us a sad reminder that promises of “never again” continue to ring viciously hollow—especially as the Darfur region of Sudan is turning into another massacre. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)