An Important Film About An Often Ignored Subject.......

Rating: 10/10 (22 July 2005)

When it became apparent, in 1994, that genocide was impending in the African nation of Rwanda, much of the west deemed the people of that impoverished country "unworthy" of aid or resources. On the part of the United States, Rwanda was low on the list of priorities; fresh from the Bosnia conflict, and interventions in Haiti and Somalia, the US did not want to risk involvement there. A small unit of UN peacekeepers were deployed, but suffered under heavy restrictions. They were given little money and outdated equipment. When Rwandan president Habyarimana's plane was shot down in April, the dam broke and Hutu flooded the streets out for blood. The minority Tutsi were considered the enemy and were targeted by roadblocks and constant radio broadcasts calling for their extermination. Moderate Hutu also came under the blade of the machete (the preferred weapon of the masses). What started as essentially a social conflict, or what most thought a prelude to civil war, erupted into chaotic slaughter amongst a poor and uneducated populous. Bodies lay strewn in the streets, in the houses and rivers. Even before the violence reached its apex, and the term genocide became unavoidable, the world powers seemed to have forgotten Rwanda and left the country to burn.
It is in the city of Kigali, during this period, that the film HOTEL RWANDA takes place. It focuses on the real life story of the manager of a five-star resort named Paul Rusesabagina (Don Cheadle), who has found himself integrated into the "style" of the west. He procures fine cigars and expensive whiskey for his foreign visitors and for the military elite who frequent the hotel. He is a Hutu married to a Tutsi woman, Tatiana (Sophie Okonedo), their children being of mixed blood. When the violence of April 1994 reaches his doorstep, he does everything he can to save his family, but finds himself a part of something larger. As the situation worsens, and the UN forces diminish, Paul uses his money, limited resources, and social contacts to protect the hundreds of people who sought the hotel as a refuge. He quickly realizes that there will be no intervention; the scenes involving Colonel Oliver (Nick Nolte), the frustrated UN peacekeeper, are pointed as he explains to Paul that the world does not care about him or his country. It is hard to deny that elements of racism played a part in the decisions of world powers and Paul feels betrayed by the false prophet of the west. In one of the most poignant scenes, Paul watches as foreign nationals are evacuated from the hotel. A busload of white faces pulls away, and with them the security forces, leaving the defenseless group of Africans to meet their fate. But events leave little time for self reflection, as there are almost hourly threats against the hotel and the people inside. Eventually the payoffs and bribes no longer work and Paul is left only with words, which he uses to play on the fears of men like General Bizimungu (Fana Mokoena), creating a sense of power he does not really have. After words fail, only hope remains.
Don Cheadle, who plays Paul Rusesabagina, is truly memorable. It is an important performance, and rare, where the actor ceases and only the character remains. Observe the scene when, having returned with supplies, Paul is overcome by what he has viewed on the roads. Cheadle is mesmerizing here, but he is just as nuanced in the smaller moments which makes his breakdown all the more effective and real. He does not falter for a moment. Sophie Okonedo is just as good; she is strong and avoids the "woman in peril" clichés so prevalent in film. It is Nick Nolte who reminds us here that he can be an actor of great depth when given the opportunity, and the entire supporting cast helps immensely. HOTEL RWANDA marks a departure for director Terry George, who is from Northern Ireland, and has worked almost exclusively with Jim Sheridan on stories about that region. Here he creates tension without gimmicks and allows the characters to develop. He puts a human face to the abstract bloodshed of Rwanda during the massacres, but avoids preaching or over sentimentalizing the harrowing subject matter. The cinematography, production design and music help George in recreating the time and place. HOTEL RWANDA seems effortless in its portrayal of the events, but these are, in fact, the hardest films to make.
It was difficult for me to imagine a film about the genocide in Rwanda as having a PG-13 rating. In a way it is good because the film will reach a wider audience and shed light upon a recent atrocity which was ignored at the time and has been largely forgotten since. Having seen various documentaries on the subject, read participant's accounts and seen chilling photographs of rivers choked with corpses, the true scale of violence was staggering. HOTEL RWANDA does not quite capture the brutality and horror of the events where mobs of people used sharpened car parts and bicycle handles to kill Tutsi as well as Hutu "traitors." It instead chooses to focus on the personal story of Paul and his efforts. He is a brave man who saved the lives of many through his efforts, although chance seems to have played a large part. The film should also help us look ahead to the events in the Darfur region of the Sudan where many of the same things are happening today and which has been obscured by other world events. The message of HOTEL RWANDA seems to be that something like this can happen at anytime, in anyplace, and that each instance is as worthy of our attention as the next. I hope this film will continue to have an impact but in the long term it is people, not films, that will make a difference. 10/10