A Humbling Experience

Rating: 10/10 (25 February 2005)

For me, Terry George's Hotel Rwanda was easily the best and most memorable movie of 2004. It's difficult to call a movie about a terrible tragedy such as the Rwandan genocide of 1994, but in every aspect, this movie is excellent. Yes, the movie is one of the most upsetting pieces I have ever seen, but this is only an indication of the greatness of the Hotel Rwanda. The actors (especially Cheadle) are so believable in each of their roles, that it does not take long for the audience to take an interest in the main figures, their lives, and the lives of their friends and neighbors. This fact makes the suffering of those who witnessed and fell during the Rwandan massacre both on film and in actuality so much more real.
Also, much credit must be given to the director, Terry George. In a film revolving around an incidence of genocide (in which many victims were hacked to death with machetes no less) it would be easy for the story and tragedy to be lost amidst a depiction of the excessive violence that occurred. However, while there is obviously a good share of violence in Hotel Rwanda, George avoids excessive gore and instead relies more on fear to express the suffering of the refugees at Rusesabagina's hotel. George instead shows the aftermath of violence (hundreds of corpses covering a road), the threat of violence, and especially, feelings of alienation and separation (the abandonment of Rwandan refugees by the western world). All these elements really draw the audience in and force the viewers to feel the pain and suffering felt by the refugees.
The excellence of Hotel Rwanda also makes it a very humbling movie. It forces those who live in the western world to acknowledge the atrocities that resulted from their countries pretending a massive problem did not exist. Possibly the most depressing fact that Hotel Rwanda asserts is in the last image of the entire movie, where simple white words on a black background remind the audience that nearly a million people died during this period of genocide, a toll that may have been dramatically lessened had the world not turned its back. Thus, in its greatness, the movie is also very shaming, a fitting feeling given the words of Rusesabagina in the movie, "we must shame them into acting." More than once I was reduced to tears watching this movie, as were many other members of the (unfortunately) slim audience present in the theater. Truly, this is a movie that all should see.