*After being away for quite a while due to some rather unforeseen circumstances, it feels good to be back to the hive family again and to continue this journey with y'all. *
source-rogerebert
**> 'When you see your brother or your sister suffering, you must not stay silent. Do not remain still. Go to their aid. Help them.'- Kabede Bimro**
I must say I enjoyed this bit from start to finish, prolly because I'm a sucker for Chris Evans ( our very own Captain America) movies, lol..
The RSDR movie depicts a coded operation carried out by some Israeli Officers, which ran for about four to five years in the early 80's with the sole aim of rescuing thousands of stranded Ethiopian Jewish Refugees in Sudan, around the time when the country was at the brink of a civil war and well, other environmental and economic factors that accompanies war like famine. Not surprisingly, this story was also based on true life events.
The first ten minutes promises a thrilling start as it shows the Protagonist Ari Levinson (Chris Evans), a rather selfless Israeli agent trying to rescue a little boy who was separated from his family, from being shot by some militants that invaded his village. After this first rescue mission, with the insight of his friend Kabede (also a Jew), he realized it has gotten more difficult to move refugees out of Sudan, hence the need for a new plan.
On getting back home, amidst the picture of a failing marriage, Ari stumbles across a deserted hotel located on the coast of Sudan, which had been abandoned since forever. He then reasons that if he could somehow renovate this hotel, fill it with Israeli spies as workers, and pretend it was an actual resort, they could use it as a front to smuggle many more Ethiopian refugees from the camp to ships that would eventually carry them to Israel.
He also knew that for this to work, he would need the backing of the Israeli government.
His superiors however, frowned greatly at this dangerous yet daring idea of his but eventually gave in when they saw how important and greatly humanitarian the mission was, even though stupidly risky and could cause problems for both countries should things go haywire.
As soon as he gets the appropriate backing he needed, Ari sets off to recruit some of his old spy colleagues ( in a rather stylish manner that reminded me of the Oceans trilogy) who would serve as workers in the fake hotel but of course with the mission in play.
source-commonsensemedia
They all changed their identities, managed to pass through the tight security at the airport on getting to Sudan and eventually succeeded in making a rather yet uncomfortable deal with their government on how to generate funds via tourism from the hotel business.
Of course the bulk of the suspense in this film comes from the opposing militants headed by a menacing Sudanese Colonel ( Heck, the 'bad guy'), who is keen on keeping the European Jews in his country as he gets Aid money from the UN for each refugee. I'm sure you can picture how furious he got when he discovered about hundreds of refugees mysteriously disappeared from the camp each month or so.
Funny thing also was how the agents almost freaked out at the arrival of some unsuspecting tourists who in their defense came across a brochure that promises of having a great time, with exotic views of nature during the day and a million stars at night. If only they knew what they were in the middle of, but they never did as the spies each did a marvelous Job of concealing their real identity, running the hotel in the morning with lessons on diving, fishing, yoga and the rest, and fully embarking on their mission as soon as it gets dark.
commonsensemedia
Overall, this movie even though it doesn't give you a complete picture of what happened during that period, has a cool mix of suspense, drama and the thrilling aspects of the spy life in general.
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Many thanks for reading, and do enjoy the rest of your day!**