Bravery and Genocide in Africa

Rating: 9/10 (27 June 2006)

How can a film lacking espionage, demons, and meaningless frontal nudity not interest me? Hotel Rwanda shines in murky Hollywood with compelling characters, fantastic writing, and a true plot ignored in its own time. Hotel Rwanda deals with the rising of the Interhamwe forces whose prime directive is to slay a fellow African tribe, the Tutsis. This crisis is severely slowed when a fast-acting hotel manager, Paul Rusesabagina (Don Cheadle), provides refuge to hundreds of marked Tutsi.
Paul faces many conflicts while avoiding direct conflict. He is a known Hutu, and the Hutu make up the Interhamwe. He knows he is frowned upon having a wife of Tutsi birth, but he denies his heritage for the betterment of man in general. Paul Rusesabagina must also keep the Mille Collines appearance as a 4-Star hotel. Paul battles defiant staff, constant tragedy, and thinning supplies throughout the course of this gut-wrenching tale of kindness.
The historical value of this is something our planet earth should recognize. The genocide piqued UN interest in 1994. Officials were sent to Rwanda with strict instructions: No Shooting. This seemed a little ridiculous being as trained soldiers had to simply witness the purge of a people. Whether or not the collective world cared or not can be debated. But what can't be denied is that if Rwanda was going to gain nuclear armaments, or fall to Communism, you would have seen the whole situation cleared up with the entire United Nations at the helm. I personally liked this film because it serves as more of a social commentary than just another "Based on Actual Events" movies we hear so much about.
One of the most powerful scenes, in my opinion, was as the folks recording the massacre needed to be evacuated. Upon entering a bus bound for the nearest airport, the cameraman with a Western perspective (Joaquin Phoenix) murmured "Jesus Christ, I'm so ashamed!" This is when the severity of this tale sank in. Someone not even living there their whole life was forced to be another bystander with protests that wouldn't be heard. Though I was a ripe age of four and barely grasped the theory of an all-day school at the time of this monstrosity, I too look back in disdain on the people who wouldn't aid a struggling nation.
In conclusion, this isn't a movie with intense wire-fighting or thugs being thrown through the wall. It's a look back on a tale with a thin, though important, chapter in our world's history. Don Cheadle delivers the performance of a lifetime as the harrowed Paul Rusesabagina. This is a movie that will make you think. For a very, very long time. Like the Mille Collines itself, this movie is spectacular. Two Thumbs up.