when humankind sleeps ...

Rating: 8/10 (23 December 2005)

'Hotel Rwanda' is a docu-drama about one of the most shameful events in modern history. It is about the genocide in Rwanda, that happened only one decade ago, and the hard questions that need to be asked about how this was possible, and why governments and international organizations did not succeed in preventing it should haunt the minds of the politicians and of any decent person on earth.
Still, this film is more about the human aspects of the conflict. As in 'Schindler's List', the action focuses on one episode figuring one noble figure of a real human, who succeeds to make a difference by saving innocent lives. Beautifully acted by Don Cheadle, the main character endangers his own life, and the security of his family, just because as a human he cannot behave differently. If we can be appalled by the dimensions of the Rwandian tragedy and the lack of humanity of the perpetrators of the crimes, the message of the film is basically optimistic, showing that human dignity not only survives in our cruel world of today, but also can succeed, can make a difference. If only all humans would behave like this ...
I do not believe that this film is great cinema, but it is important, and it must have been made. It features some good acting from actors like Nick Nolte and Joachim Phoenix, but its value lays in having told the story, in a direct and fluent manner. Because of it, less people can pretend that they did not know that this horrible events happened now, in our contemporary times.