Stunning...

Rating: Null/10 (27 February 2005)

"Hotel Rwanda" is the heart-wrenching story of Paul Rusesabagina, a Rwandan hotel manager who sheltered over 1,200 Tutsi refugees from the Hutu militia and their 'purification' crusade in 1994. The movie begins by giving a thorough explanation of the political situation in Rwanda at the time. The nation is divided by two factions, the Hutu and the Tutsi. Rwanda, being freed from its Belgian colonizers, forms its own national government and attracts the attention of the international media and wealthy tourists. However the Hutu population, the majority, still resents the Tutsis for their alleged cooperation with the Belgian colonizers. By the early nineties both factions have organized their own militias and the official government is leaning toward the corrupt Hutu cause of exterminating the Tutsi people. The UN is caught in the middle trying to act as a peacekeeping force.
Paul (Don Cheadle) is a Hutu that must use various diplomatic skills as a hotel manager, a job bringing him in contact with various entities. When violence does break out, Paul goes against his instincts and decides upon protecting his endangered Tutsi neighbors. As they escape to the refuge of the hotel more refugees come under Paul's care and he realizes that the UN and the media, the only ones who can protect him, are fleeing the country. Colonel Oliver (Nick Nolte) is a UN commander that has befriended Paul and, being one of the few westerners who cares about the genocides, does his best to protect Paul's hotel.
I must say that the entire cast is outstanding. Don Cheadle becomes Paul right before our eyes and amazes us in virtually every scene. Sophie Okonedo plays Paul's courageous Tutsi wife, Tatiana Rusesabagina, who encourages her husband every step of the way. This character reminds me of the old adage: behind every strong man is a stronger woman. Nick Nolte has one of the greatest and most convincing scenes in the movie when he (as Col. Oliver) explains to Paul why the West doesn't care about his plight.
The director and producer, Terry George, pulls the picture together in such a way that it is an outrage was not nominated for an Oscar. The dialogue is realistic and human in every sense. Finally, the cinematography tells the story in such a straightforward manner that with the very appropriate (and sometimes eerie) music we as an audience feel transported into Paul's terrifying world.
"Hotel Rwanda" is an excellent tale of survival.