A Must See film!

Rating: 8/10 (16 April 2005)

This is one of the better films that I have seen lately, and well deserving of the Academy Award nominations that it received. The film stars Don Cheadle portraying Paul Rusesabagina in a role in which he was nominated for Best Actor, also well deserved. The story is a retelling of the true events which occurred in 1994 during a Rwandan uprising which the Tutsi population of Rwanda was almost annihilated by the Hutu militia.
Paul Rusesabagina (Cheadle) is a hard working Hutu, who serves as the Hotel Manager of a Belgian five-star hotel, the Hotel Milles Collines, in Rwanda. He is married to Tatiana, a Tutsi, played by Sophie Okonedo. Paul lives in a neighbor populated by both Hutu and Tutsi. As the movie begins, tensions are rising as altercations between Hutu militia and Tutsi rebels escalate. Rumors start circulating about a possible Tutsi coup, as Hutu military soldiers begin rounding up possible Tutsi spies in Paul's neighborhood.
A full fledge genocidal war against the Tutsi population is ignited when the plane with the Rwandan President, a Hutu, is shot down by Tutsi rebels only hours after a peace treaty between the Hutu militia and Tutsi rebels is signed. Paul's neighborhood as well as much of Rwanda becomes the battle ground for the war, where only bribery, blackmail, and payoffs are your only survival.
Paul is able to get his family and a van full of neighbors back to his Hotel in hopes that United Nations soldiers will protect these refugees. However, just the opposite becomes apparent. The U.N. soldiers are forced to take no stand on the situation before them. What's even worst, at one point of the film, the U.N. forces arrive at Paul's hotel in mass only to help to evacuate the European guests stranded there, thus leaving behind the Rwanda refugees to fend for themselves without any protection whatsoever.
Paul becomes a one-man army whose only mission is to save the lives of these people. He is forced to plead to foreign nationals, manipulate generals, bribe the Hutu militia, and grovel to U.N. peace-keepers. He is willing to do whatever it takes in order to keep the atrocities, which are occurring just outside his hotel compounds, from entering their confines.
This story is brutally told; it's both gripping and ghastly. Director Terry George pulls no punches; and emotions run rampant as scenes such as "the U.N. forces departure leaving Rwandan refugees behind at the hotel" just tears at the heart. It's a story of how one man overcomes insurmountable odds to make a difference, and it's graphically depicted. Again, this film is not for the squeamish; however, I highly recommend seeing it. http://farisreel.com