Review of Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Roméo Dallaire (2005) by Simon D — 13 Oct 2007

Romeo Dallaire personifies White Guilt in this sympathetic look back at the UN's intervention in the Rwandan genocide. The documentary re-brands the old myth of "The White Man's Burden" under the more contemporary noblesse oblige known euphemistically as "The Responsibility to Protect.

" Most viewers will genuinely sympathize with Dallaire and the plight of Rwandans. Just don't leave critical thinking at the door or else films like this will continue to be used to intensify jingoism and justify further Western imperialism.

It's a mistake to assume the system has the same noble intentions as Dallaire. He is, after all, just one man. The documentary gives slightly more room than its dramatized version to maintain necessary critical distance.