What was on TV? Sat, March 19, 2005

20 years ago, trials for the 1994 genocide were just getting started in Rwanda. Let's see what was on TV.

9:00 Sometimes in April on HBO

The negative stereotypes about TV movies are legion: they're ugly, regressive, formulaic, and so on. But even people who like TV movies (raises hand) would acknowledge that they often lack ambition. But Sometimes in April is one of the most ambitious movies I've ever seen. It tells the story of the Rwandan genocide. It tries to put the genocide in context and make the audience understand the ways in which it was caused by colonialism and how the actual mass killings were preceded by hundreds of small acts of physical and civil violence. It aims to be an on-the-ground exploration of one family's experience of the catastrophe and their attempts to escape it. It explores the emotional fallout among survivors 10 years later. And it explores the trials of the genocide's perpetrators and enablers. It's trying to be Cabaret, The Pianist, Sophie's Choice, and Judgement at Nuremberg, all in one movie.

And it mostly works! Director Raoul Peck fought hard to film this in Rwanda, and it was not easy, many people thought it would be impossible (2004's Hotel Rwanda filmed in South Africa). It was a huge logistical feat. For instance, according to the making-of featurette on the DVD, they had to transport trucks for the crew from France to Kenya and then drive them to Rwanda. He cast Rwandan actors in several key roles and employed Rwandan people on the crew as well. Obviously, working on this film might prove traumatizing to these people, so they had counselors on set.

It paid off. Filming on location means that you see the extraordinary beauty of Rwanda, which makes the horror all the more surreal. And letting people like Carole Karemara, who plays the wife of hero Augustin (Idris Elba), tell their own country's story proves incredibly powerful (Kamemara is exceptional here). A big part of the movie's 2000s timeline involves Augustin's work as a teacher. We see these kids playing in the rain and watching a speech from Bill Clinton, and knowing that these are likely actual Rwandan children gives the scenes more power.

Peck's depiction of the horrors of the genocide is unflinching. I don't just mean that the violence can be bloody, though it can be. But sometimes violence doesn't involve blood. Sometimes it's asking someone for their ID. The most instructive scene comes when Augustin and his friend find a UN convoy, and join throngs of people begging for salvation. The army pushes them back and lets the foreigners through. And then they leave. As our protagonist flees in his car, we see a militia heading in the opposite direction. We don't see what they do, and we don't need to. We've seen enough to understand the real horror, the real violence.

11:30 SNL on NBC

with host Ashton Kutcher and musical guest Gwen Stefani

This was...the best episode of the season so far? I don't like Ashton Kutcher and I never have. But he honed his craft on That '70s Show in front of a live studio audience and became famous on his weird prank show. He makes for an excellent host (he's a member of the 5-timers club). The sketches are funny, and they're weird, and Kutcher proves game throughout. Chris Parnell does a rap tribute to Demi Moore that turns into a tribute to Kutcher and denial of his bisexuality and it's aged surprisingly well! That's the only sketch on YouTube, but other sketches involve a push-up competition, Kutcher as KFed, Gays in Space, and Kutcher as a substitute preacher at a Black church. My favorite sketch is one of the last, about a local newscast whose workplace drama spills out into the open. A very funny and zany take on a classic premise.

What Else Was On

• Prozac Nation, based on the blockbuster '90s memoir, aired 0n STARZ. It starred Christina Ricci, Jessica Lange, Michelle Williams, and Anne Heche. Mirimax and Harvey Weinstein let it sit on the shelf for four years. I have to assume that dumping this thing on a second-tier premium cable channel was a vindictive effort to crew over someone as the Weinsteins left Mirmiax and Disney.
• The USA original movie Cool Money starring James Marsters and Margot Kidder.
• NBC was burning off the last episodes of LAX starring Heather Locklear and Blair Underwood. I still wish episodes of this were available, it looks like dumb fun.

TiVo Status

A Frontline documentary and the TV movies Sucker Free City, Their Eyes Were Watching God, and Ladies Night. 9 hours total.

Music, 20 years ago

The movie Sometimes in April was probably named after the gorgeous Prince song "Sometimes it Snows in April." Here is Prince performing it in 2004 (he also performs "Sweet Thing" and "Proud Mary," because why not?).