Jackson does a good job of capturing the paradoxical beauty of the setting, and she has structured her film so that even as it grows more horrible, hope glimmers.
We meet Major Honorine Munyole, "eastern Congo's one-woman Special Victims Unit" ("I myself am the sex-crimes police, and I'm also the child protection police"); Dr. Denis Mukwege of the Panzi Hospital, who does what he can to repair broken bodies; and Jackson's gentle U.N. liaison Bernard Kalume, at home with a loving family, perilously close to the Rwandan border. They are beating against a great tide, but they press on.
It's difficult to know what a film like this can accomplish, though it's necessary that such films be made. In 1960, Edward R. Murrow closed the TV documentary "Harvest of Shame," about the ill treatment of American migrant workers, saying, "The people you have seen have the strength to harvest your fruit and vegetables. They do not have the strength to influence legislation. Maybe we do."
One woman seen in "The Greatest Silence" hopes that with Jackson's film, "our complaints will be heard at a higher level . . . and we will get some help."
Good night, and good luck.
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robert.lloyd@latimes.com
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'The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo'
Where: HBO
When: 10 tonight
Rating: TV-MA (may be unsuitable for children younger than 17)
