Treads similar territory as Hotel Rwanda but successfully fills-in the blanks. A fine and welcome addition to the recent wave of African dramas.
Comment
03/06/07
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Beyond the Gates (2007)
83
%
Tomatometer
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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
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
Honest and moving, 'Beyond the Gates' is the best film to date about the slaughter of a million and displacement of hundreds of thousands in Africa.
03/03/07
Not a definitive cinematic statement on the Rwandan genocide but certainly a far preferable dramatic treatment of the atrocity than Hotel Rwanda.
03/02/07
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
There's a fine performance from John Hurt as a Catholic priest who gives shelter to fugitives in his school, and at the end we're introduced to various survivors of the tragedy who worked on the film.
01/20/07
Effectively shows how good intentions without forcefulbackup can lead to impotence and disaster within aforeign culture.
12/22/06
History tells us there was no happy ending in Rwanda, and "Shooting Dogs" is not an easy picture to watc
08/10/06
A harrowing tale, with John Hurt shining as a priest whose commitment to his parishioners and students is informed by Christian love and sadness.
07/28/06
Despite its reliance on the white characters for drama, its biggest achievement is simply in revealing the sheer horror of the genocide.
07/28/06
Not only does Shooting Dogs have something worthwhile to say, it's also incredibly important. That cinema has dared to challenge the truth of the Rwandan genocide is to be celebrated.
04/08/06
There'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
Where Hotel Rwanda was slick and professional, Shooting Dogs is both more earnest and more awkward.
04/01/06
Caton-Jones orchestrates the spiralling violence with considerable dexterity, revealing a keen understanding of how, in the wrong circumstances, human beings can and do inflict the most barbaric cruelties upon one another.
03/30/06
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
Earthier and more rough-edged than Hotel Rwanda
11/02/05
Shooting Dogs falls into the trap of filtering an inherently African story through the eyes of a noble white protagonist.
09/29/05
For all its righteous (and rightful) anger, Shooting Dogs is itself a curiously detached and compromised experience, unfolding stubbornly from the perspective of its white characters.
09/24/05
Top Critic...uncompromising...
09/18/05
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