The PBS Frontline documentary Ghosts of Rwanda shows how music enhances the medium of documentary film. Judicious scoring enables the story of the Rwandan genocide to unfold, even though the film is heavily editorialized. The film opens with the dramatic statement of truth, that 800,000 people were “slaughtered by their own government” in Rwanda. The Hutus and the Tutsis were supposed to sign a peace agreement. That agreement was to be brokered and supervised by an international team led by UN force commander General Romeo Dallaire. However, the deal was systematically sabotaged. Ghosts of Rwanda chronicles how the genocide unfolded since the breakdown of the peace process. Because the film addresses the grim realities of genocide, music needs to be judicious and tasteful. Silence accompanies many of the shots, and also allows many of the speakers and the narrator to speak their truth unaided by the emotional pull of music. Yet at other times, the filmmakers use background music to guide the viewer and construct suspense, tension, and fear, just as music is used in suspense, horror, and thriller genre films. Piano and subtle electronic riffs mixed low into the overall sound, and the effects change with each scene. Some scenes are accompanied only by nature sounds including nighttime insects like crickets or the sound of thunder. Crickets represent the calm before the storm, whereas the thunder is used to symbolize an impending political storm.

The absence of...

When the UN peacekeeping mission under the command of General Dallaire arrived, they had zero background knowledge of Rwanda. They knew nothing about the history, culture, or values of the people. Dallaire had never before been to Africa. Their lack of knowledge is paralleled in the film by the lack of inclusion of any Rwandan music other than soldiers singing during their military marches. It is possible that a deeper understanding of the bad blood between the Tutsi and the Hutu might have helped, and yet there were also a complex array of issues that led to the initiation of the genocide.
Ghost of Rwanda is deliberately disturbing. Anger is directed partly at America, for not intervening to prevent the genocide. Yet the filmmakers also show how the United States had suffered a serious defeat in Mogadishu, Somalia just months before and were wary of involving themselves in yet another international conflict. The decision of whether to intervene or not is not an easy one; sometimes intervening backfires, as it did in Somalia. Ghost of Rwanda generally offers a warning to viewers that being a bystander is likely to be worse than intervening and failing.

At the beginning of the film, General Dallaire reflects on the eyes of the people he met: the “bewildered eyes,” the angry eyes, and the “no laughing eyes,” painting a vivid image that corresponds with the shots of dead bodies. The film is critical…