When Humanity falls apart

Rating: 8/10 (26 April 2005)

It's no secret that this film caused a lot of controversy, stirred many lakes, revolted many people and moved many more. All of us will have different interpretations of it. The one undeniable fact, however, is that what we see on the screen happened. As is. No law and peace-abiding Nation did a thing to prevent it. All those who could flee, fled. The rest is history.
Don Cheadle has a break-through role in his career. The role of a man who, saving the distances, reminds me of other brave people such as Schindler or Aristides de Sousa Mendes, whom in extreme circumstances, and going beyond their very human fears and flaws, did the right thing. Nick Nolte doesn't have a brilliant role. Actually, as flimsy as the helplessness the poor Canadian Colonel felt in real life, probably.
Hotel Rwanda is a real eye-opener. It reminds everyone that the news have a human face. What happened there in the 90s is nowadays happening in Sudan (and has been for years!) as in other places: people are simply getting killed for nothing. That's the bottom line. Some will say that's the way the world is. Those are the cynical. That is not the way the world should be. We screamed never again. Yet, here it is again, asking for a new script in 2015: Hotel Khartum. The acting is not superb. The script aims at telling a story, but also at making the movie a real tear-jerker.
But if one thinks about all those that survived the Genocide and are perhaps thankful for the story, then it had to be worth making it. Despite the lack of help, no one will now be able to forget.
Any human being must feel ashamed of himself while watching it. It's a civil offense in most democracies to see someone in need of help and doing nothing. There isn't a more extreme example. We all shoved it under the carpet and pretended it wasn't there. Hotel Rwanda stands as a memory. To face us with our passiveness, it should be mandatory.