Powerful

Rating: 8/10 (26 October 2005)

'Hotel Rwanda' tells the story of hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina (Don Cheadle) who used his skills to save over a thousand people during the terrible events that happened in Rwanda in the early nineties. Tutsis were slaughtered by Hutus simply because they were Tutsi, while the rest of the world was looking away. The way the United Nations acted here is portrayed by Colonel Oliver (Nick Nolte), the only fictional person in the movie.
First we learn about the way Paul, a Hutu, handles things in the hotel; he is a good manager, keeping the important customers happy with little gifts. They may come in handy later in his life. We meet Paul's wife Tatiana (Sophie Okonedo), who is a Tutsi. Then the massacre starts and slowly more and more people try to hide in the hotel, protected by just a few UN soldiers who are not allowed to use their weapons.
In more than one way I was reminded of 'Schindler's List'. Schindler started to save people only to make money, but ended up caring for all of them. Paul's reasons are less selfish than making money, although at first he only wants to save his own family with the power he has. Paul also ends up caring for every single soul he can save. Both men stood up against a greater power with the risk of being killed. 'Schindler's List' is the better movie, mostly because it was amazing how it told a story about one man but gave us a strong impression of the Holocaust surrounding him. 'Hotel Rwanda' has some scenes that have that effect as well, but overall it feels more of a movie that plays on a smaller scale. Of course Steven Spielberg is also a better director than Terry George.
Still, the movie is very powerful and moving. Like I said, there are scenes that are close to unbelievable, showing once again what mankind is able to. Performances are helpful here, especially Cheadle does a superb job showing a smart man slowly losing hope. There is one complaint (one that also counts for 'Schindler's List') I have here. The people in Rwanda were not speaking English as their main language, but they were definitely not speaking English with accents. Maybe it makes it more realistic for an English speaking audience, it does not for most others. Just let them speak their original language or normal English. You didn't see the people from 'Gladiator' speak English with a Latin accent either and it worked just fine.