I am in a state of shock

Rating: 10/10 (18 February 2006)

My... oh my... there are no words to describe this. Words just seem redundant... even irrelevant. EVERYTHING else seems irrelevant right now by the way.
It's in the middle of the night and I have just watched the only other film that has ever left me in a state of TOTAL SHOCK, the first one being Schindler's List.
In fact, that was - in a sense - a less shocking film due to the simple fact that we already know so much about the Holocaust. The whole point of Hotel Rwanda is that here is a genocide of similar proportions... that has passed us by. We have seen the Holocaust survivors share their stories, but we have not yet understood the full magnitude of the Rwandan massacres.
In short: nothing can prepare you for this.
I simply do not know what to say or think. I CANNOT even think after seeing this. It is just... unreal. Nothing anyone says or does can ever make this film justice. This is right up there with Schindler's List as one of the two most important films ever to be seen.
The film treats the subject with all the respect of craftsmanship required. As with Schindler's List, it avoids the pitfall of over-saturating the viewer with blood and gore, and chooses the far more emotionally powerful way of conveying the terror by focusing on individuals, relations. But even though the story of Paul Rusesabagina has many resemblances with that of Oskar Schindler, Hotel Rwanda consciously steers clear of the obvious pitfall of becoming a copy of Schindler's List, and treats those similarities in a rather passing way.
It is a film that whacks you in the middle of your soul.
The scene in the beginning, when Paul Rusesabagina drives through the night during the first blackout, manages to create such an eerie sense of looming terror using only the slightest of visuals, that it in itself should become a case study for all aspiring film makers. I could feel the terror in my MOUTH.
And... where were the Oscars?? I agree that the 2005 Best Actor in a Leading Role, Jamie Foxx, did an outstanding job in Ray. But I am not joking: nominee Don Cheadle's portrayal of Paul Rusesabagina in Hotel Rwanda kicks the you-know-what of EVERYONE nominated that year, put together. Don Cheadle's is a performance Jamie Foxx couldn't even DREAM about. Don Cheadle could blow a few Jamie Foxxs out of his nose.
Accent: SPOT on. I was SHOCKED (here's that word again) to realise Don Cheadle is an American: I had not heard of him before, and was totally convinced the lead role was played by an African actor since he sounds exactly like my Central African friends - until I read the info here on IMDb!! And he is such a... NORMAL person, giving full credibility to the story of someone forced into doing unusual deeds. SHAME on the Academy for snubbing this unbelievable work; it must have been because they knew who Ray Charles was but not what - or WHERE - Rwanda is.
The same goes for the rest of the film - even down to the accent of the Sabena people. I happen to live in Belgium... and I can assure you that I could have listened to the actors playing Sabena officials with my eyes closed and thought they were Belgian straight away!! Academy, go find the dialect coach of this film, INVENT a category for him/her, and give him/her a shiny Oscar for it retroactively!! And for the rest of you: Do not make the same mistake we all made in 1994. Go see this movie. Tell the story. Never forget. And make sure it never happens again.
Must-see? That's only the first name. This film has left me FLATTENED. I am out of breath. And lost for words.