The Accidental Hero At Rwanda

Rating: 10/10 (1 October 2012)

Hotel Rwanda is a that was based on real life events in Rwanda during the spring of 1994.The film stars Don Cheadle as hotelier Paul Rusesabagina, who attempts to rescue his fellow citizens from the ravages of the Rwandan Genocide. Actors Sophie Okonedo, Joaquin Phoenix, Nick Nolte and Jean Reno also appear in principal roles. The film documents Rusesabagina's acts to save the lives of his family and more than a thousand other refugees, by granting them shelter in the besieged Hôtel des Mille Collines. Also,it explores genocide, political corruption, and the repercussions of violence.The movie was directed by Terry George,who co-wrote the script with Keir Pearson.
Paul Rusesabagina is the hotel manager at the fancy Les Milles Collines hotel in Kigali. He is a Hutu, and a very successful businessman who smoothly greases the wheels, making powerful connections in all strata of Rwandan life. His wife, Tatiana is a Tutsi. She urges Paul to use his influence to help local Tutsis, who are being harassed and beaten with increasing frequency, but Paul will only use the political capital he's built up to help his own family, if and when they need it. Soon enough, the violence escalates, and the Hutus begin their genocide of the Tutsis. European guests and staff at the hotel are flown out of the country, and Paul is left in charge. He finds that his conscience won't allow him to watch as the innocent are slaughtered, and before long, the hotel has become a well-appointed refugee camp. Paul is seen as a traitor by some, putting his life in danger, and the predicament of his "guests" grows more precarious every day, but despite good intentions on the part of a journalist and a UN peacekeeping colonel, the rest of the world is not eager to intervene and stop the massacre.
This is a sobering and heartfelt tale about massacre that took place in Rwanda while most of the world looked away.The almost forgotten but all too real African genocide documented in Hotel Rwanda hits us as suddenly and as hard as it does Paul Rusesabagina, the accidental hero played so masterfully by Don Cheadle. Obviously,this is a solid film, but it is the truth that holds the power, not the direction.Also,it imparts the message about the cost of doing nothing.