Sometimes in April is a captivating movie about the Rwandan genocide in 1994. The cinema cleverly begins with the map of Africa explaining that Hutus and the Tutsis, the two main ethnic groups in Rwanda were being separated by the Belgian colonials. Unlike the book, the movie gives both the macroscopic and microscopic view of the events that occurred especially highlighting that fact that in the beginning, the Belgian colonials took measures to divide the different tribes by various criteria, such as height and nose shape. Portraying such actions are not written in the book. This life-changing movie was able to capture the complexity of the genocide and issues and resentment underneath it. The director Raoul Peck includes the original footages …show more content…
The book, compared to the movie, has more limitations. First is the fact that it was only about 14 survivors of the genocide and does not give the view of the other countries and the UN. Since this was conducted as an interview, it can be considered an oral history which was later written, meaning that people who witnessed the genocide have aged and their memory of the event can be different than what actually happened. For example, the first person Jean Hatzfeld interviewed was a twelve years old school boy who said, “I no longer remember how many big and little brothers and sisters I had, because my memory is too taken up by so many deaths, it’s not handy with numbers anymore. That slows me down in school, …show more content…
Another limitation of the book is that it was first written in French and then later translated by Linda Coverdale. Sometimes in April was filmed in English, removing the chances of things being lost in translation. However,
However, since both the movie and the book were produced after couple years of the events, they both give glimpse of life after the genocide. The book goes into more detail about the children’s lives that have been detrimentally affected. “We survivors, we don’t know the precise nature of the hidden wound, but at least we know it exists. Those who haven’t experienced the genocide—they see nothing. If they make a real effort, they will one day accept the fact of this secret wound inside us.”
The book explains the cultural reasons behind the genocide. For example, Marie-Lousie Kagoyire says that, “Mountaining jealousy was already coming between the Tutsi and the Hutu business communities, because the Tutsis were prospering faster than the Hutus.” The movie lacks such thorough explanation of the cultural ideas and perceptions making it less personal, but more of an overview of the