A relentlessly-grim reminder of how the world simply watched when it would have been so easy to put an end to the madness.
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03/12/07
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Beyond the Gates (2007)
83
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Reviews Counted:59
Fresh:49
Rotten:10
Average Rating:7.2/10
Consensus: Complex, human characters and on-location shooting give Beyond the Gates palpable tension and urgency.
Theatrical Release:Mar 9, 2007 Limited
Synopsis: Joe Connor has come to teach in Rwanda because he believes he can make a difference. When the school becomes a haven for thousands of Rwandans fleeing the genocide, Joe promises his brightest... [More]
Starring: John Hurt, Hugh Dancy, Dominique Horwitz, Nicola Walker
Director: Michael Caton-Jones
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Reviews for Beyond the Gates
It simply presents, and assumes that we have the inherent morality to understand that what we are watching is evil.
09/20/07
The film grinds inexorably toward its unsurprising and terrible conclusion with infinite grace but no real suspense.
06/01/07
A difficult sell because of the way it clutches its privileged white perspective. But from any perspective, the story it tells is so dramatic, so riveting, that it's impossible to maintain any judgmental distance.
03/13/07
A passion project for those involved, it is angry and earnest and highlights an episode the international community have never quite dealt with: how it sat back and watched as thousands of Africans were killed.
03/21/06
Movies about Africa often fall into this trap. Righteous indignation is the exclusive province of non-Africans.
03/31/07
Top CriticDirector Michael Caton-Jones doesn't go for obvious pathos or simple outrage. He approaches the picture's theme with a documentary realism that, scene by scene, heightens the drama.
03/18/07
This is a spiritual drama, not a political one, drawing a thick line between our good intentions and the selfish choices we ultimately make.
01/04/08
A gripping fictionalized account of a 1994 incident in Rwanda that became a shocking emblem of the Rwandan Hutus' mass slaughter of the Tutsis.
03/29/07
Top CriticThe 1994 Rwandan genocide is once again the subject of a movie. Even more so than its forerunner Hotel Rwanda, Beyond the Gates is unsparing in its depiction of that terrible time.
03/15/07
One of the most remarkable things about Beyond the Gates is its refreshingly positive view of the role that faith can play even in the darkest of times.
03/16/07
Despite a true story that generates powerful feelings of rage and insult, and for all its worthy intentions, the film lacks a dramatic craftsman to make it fully engaging.
01/28/07
In spite of heartfelt performances from John Hurt and Hugh Dancy, director Michael Caton-Jones ("Scandal") keeps an arm's distance from his volatile subject and fails to expand on an epic tragedy that is being replicated in places like Darfur.
03/05/07
Treads similar territory as Hotel Rwanda but successfully fills-in the blanks. A fine and welcome addition to the recent wave of African dramas.
03/06/07
Effectively shows how good intentions without forcefulbackup can lead to impotence and disaster within aforeign culture.
12/22/06
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10/29/08
Director Michael Caton-Jones does a great job and John Hurt just absolutely carries the day as the moral center of the story.
03/12/07
Top CriticThere's no way this story could ever have made a bad film, but a script that refuses sentimentality and fine acting elevate it just short of greatness.
04/01/06
Beyond the Gates, with its lack of sentimentality, its tough criticism of U.N. inaction, and its cast and crew filled out with real survivors, does nicely [as a retelling of the Rwandan genocide of 1994].
03/07/07
Top CriticFlawed but worthwhile.
03/09/07
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