The darkest of historical moments, told brilliantly

Rating: 10/10 (8 July 2017)

Grim subject matter aside, this is a jewel of a movie which I hope with every fiber of my being you will watch. Compassion, corruption, fear, violence, hate, love, integrity and honor are the highlights of this film. The world stands by while terrible things happen all the time. We have no choice sometimes. We're far away, politically disconnected, we feel powerless. The cognitive dissonance pounds our hearts at times.
What chimes in my heart the most about this movie is that this is actually the sole theme of the movie. It is not overpowered by moral preaching, it does coerce you into feeling anything specific, it's purpose is simply to allow you to feel SOMETHING about what is happening; whether it be yesterday, 1994 Rwanda, or today with Syria. It gives you a road map and empowers you. It's incredibly inspiring. Words cannot explain.
Sometimes, feeling something is the best you can do. Reflect, learn and try to be one of the good ones. Be a hero in your own little world. You do what you can do be good, at the cost of witnessing certain atrocities and being restricted in what you can do about it. Just do what you can, when you can. (I speak of the protagonist's role and not the world, in this particular situation, the world was most certainly not heroic) And sometimes, when you can do that, you may not know it at the time, but you become something bigger; a real hero. This is a movie about the dignity of fear, of monsters at every turn and above all else, it is a movie to help you define what it is to be a hero, a true real life hero. Not the MARVEL superhero kind, but those kind of people with hearts so big that they make you feel grateful to be human.
In the very midst of hell happening on earth, the protagonist, brilliantly brought to life by Don Cheadle, feels the events and makes small decisions. That is all. And you watch him. This movie makes the world feel it. The moment of it. The smallness he feels and the enormity of the world at the same time. You feel it. It's a pure sentiment distilled down to its purest form and that is the very premise of the movie.
Bad things happen, we try to be good, we try to be strong, we do what we can and keep our chins up. The beauty of being human is that you decide how to react to the world, in all its contrasting colors and beautiful madness, you too can find honor, valor, humility, integrity -- MEANING -- PURPOSE.
What a brilliant shining beacon of light this movie was.... despite being at the same time a grimmest saddest and most harrowing foray into the darkness of the human spirit. All at the same time. A true masterpiece.
I must note that the powerlessness I feel after watching this movie is a bit overwhelming, but it has sparked something in me. I am not very political, but my views have now been changed. I suspect the director and writer and actors would be pleased that I feel restless to go out into the world and do something good now.