Excellent and emotionally devastating

Rating: 8/10 (28 February 2005)

"Hotel Rwanda" gives a first-hand account of the genocide that occurred between the two main tribes in Rwanda, the Hutus and the Tutsis. Paul Rusesabagina (Cheadle) is the manager of a luxury hotel in the area that caters to the wealthy and to government figures. Outside of the gates of the resort, Tutsis are being killed by the Hutu militia, and though Paul (a Hutu) is married to Tatiana (Okonedo) (a Tutsi) for the sake of his family, he turns a blind eye until his in-laws disappear and the militia literally come to his doorstep demanding his cooperation and the surrender of his wife, children and neighbors. With the diplomacy that he has learned in his job he is able to barter with them, basically paying a great deal of money for the lives of his family and neighbors. Meanwhile, Col. Oliver (Nolte), who is with the United Nations, is trying to help the refugees and keep some semblance of order, but is forced to evacuate only the Caucasian residents of the hotel, leaving all of the Rwandans (both Tutsi and Hutus that are Tutsi sympathizers) to fend for themselves, which leads Paul to open the hotel to over 1,000 Tutsi refugees. There they try desperately to get out of the country, and ultimately, survive since the Hutu militia is now targeting any sympathizers as well.
From about fifteen minutes into "Hotel Rwanda", I was pretty upset, and that feeling didn't go away once. Don Cheadle is incredibly good as a conflicted hero. Many comparisons have been made between this film and "Schindler's List", but if there is a way to rate levels of heroship, Paul Rusesabagina as portrayed in the film is pretty high up there. He is repeatedly given the chance to escape unharmed, but never gives in, a big turnaround from the beginning of the film when he first turned a blind eye, then became a reluctant hero. Cheadle captures this complicated figure brilliantly. It's not just the superficial coups that he achieves (flawless accent, etc.) it is the subtle strength he gives the character. His character may not be a beloved singer or a good impersonation of someone, but the strength of his performance should have given him an Oscar, not just a nomination. (Though I am glad that he at least got that much.) This is the first film that I have seen Sophie Okonedo act in, and she also extremely good. She quickly shows that she is more than a pretty face, and her strength and mettle are admirable, while experiencing the worst atrocities first hand.
As a film, "Hotel Rwanda" was not manipulative emotional. Under Terry George's direction, it felt at times like a documentary because it was truly an unblinking look at a terrible and shameful time in history. Though I had heard about the genocide, I was not fully aware of the "reasons" for the war, and as completely ridiculous as they were, the film is excellent at providing us a lesson in recent history without commentary. As far as I can tell, this is a pretty level look at the conflict and while it was incredibly emotional, it was not preachy. While I mention that it had an almost documentary feel to it, which is not to say that there were dramatic moments. One moment in particular where I literally felt like I was going to be sick was when Paul (in what was probably his defining moment) encounters literally hundreds of dead bodies on a road that he and one of his hotel employees are traveling. Having said that, however, even a moment like this one was managed with care and subtlety by George.
I was telling some co-workers about the film and its emotional impact and a couple of them who hadn't seen it went, "Gee  that sounds too depressing for me". "Hotel Rwanda" is certainly not a cheerful film, it is a film about a conflict that ended the lives of one million people in a matter of months while most of the world turned a blind eye. But it amazingly ends on a note that did not make me want to find the nearest closed garage and turn on the car, and left me with a newly found understanding of something I had only heard about and until Saturday night, knew nothing about. "Hotel Rwanda" is not an easy film to watch, but it is really and truly an excellent film that should be seen, both for its impactful storytelling and for its command performances. 8/10 --Shelly