Hotel Rwanda

Excelente película te llega al alma

One of the rare movies that outlines the atrocities that have happened in Africa

The film, Hotel Rwanda, is similar to Schindler's List and The Diary of Ann Frank, in that it is more than entertainment; it documents a national act of genocide of one people against another. Therfore the film has to be reviewed both as an artistic statement and as a political statement. I will cover both in this review.First, this is suberb film making with an incredible cast of actors. However Don Cheadle demonstrated that his acting skills are of the highest order. The film did an excellent job of balancing the tensions and drama within the hotel with the terror in the streets. Major societal tensions are mirrored in the hotel staff, some of which are Tutsis and some of which are Hutus. The film did an excellent job of demonstrating the terror as parents tired to keep thier children from being murdered against a mob of Hutus, intent on killing all Tutsis in the country. Thus the film demonstrated at the individual, the family, the neighborhood, the ethnic, and the national levels the terror of this genocide.Second,the film is a political statement against genocide and the politics around genocide. Long brewing social injustice,a breakdown of the social contract, opportunistic political leaders, prejudice and stereotypes, and a highly visible or high profile catalyst to mob violence are the formula for genocide which this film displayed very well. The film is subtle in demonstrating that many of the Tutsis were of a higher economic class than the Hutus and this was due to the Belgium preference for the lighter skinned, thinner, taller Tutsis as compared to the shorter, darker, thicker Hutus. This long brewing social injustice set the stage for opportunistic politicians to gain control of the country with ethinic warfare as their vehicle. The assassination of the President by his own military, blamed on the Tutsis rebels, and fanned into flame by violence monger radio personalities served as the catalyst that sparked the terror.There has been much discussion around the lack of a response from Europe and the United States during this catastrope. The explanations include the recent US military crisis in Mogadishu (see Black Hawk Down for a great film on this incident), the lack of understanding of the politics and tensions in the region, the involvement of the UN in Bosnia and Serbia, and racism against darker races. All of these forces, no doubt, played a role. However we have to ask both our politicians and the media to do a much better job of educating the public around these issues. The media was slow to report this genocide and thus delayed international action. We should never let this happen again.Buy this film, it is outstanding. Keep it in your collection since it is part of human history.

Don Cheadle plays Paul Rusesabagina, a Rwandan Hutu and manager of the luxurious Mille Collines hotel. The film is efficient in its story-telling and we are told early that there has been tension ever since the Belgians left because when the Belgian colonists first came to Rwanda they arbitrarily divided up the native Africans into the more elegant and fair-skinned Tutsis and the darker, broader-nosed Hutus. The Belgians gave a measure of power to the small amount of Tutsi's, and after Belgium leaves the tensions escalate.Rusesabagina is a Hutu, married to a Tutsi (in a wonderful performance by Sophie Okonedo). A peace agreement is quickly ignored, the Rwandan President's plane is shot from the sky, and the Hutu's are driven by voices of hatred to "Cut the Tall Trees" - a chilling phrase we are told early on is a "signal" for Hutus to murder Tutsis.Rusesabagina opens the doors of the Mille Collines to everyone, most significantly to terrified and hiding Tutsis. Don Cheadle is the heart and soul of this movie, and we are amazed as we watch him save 1,200 lives by bribing, pleading, outsmarting and standing up to the murderous forces that come to the Mille Collines. There are several astonishing scenes where Paul essentially shames white Europeans and his Rwandan staff into "doing the right thing". At one point he is quite certain that the hotel is about to be over-run and everyone inside murdered. He is incredibly calm as he phones the Belgian headquarters of his hotel company (a brief, but effective cameo by the wonderful Jean Reno) and thanks the company for what they have done, then informs him that they are about to all be killed.Nick Nolte brings the right combination of fear and fearlessness to the role of the Canadian Colonel representing the United Nations, leading a tiny force of UN "peacekeepers, not peacemakers" - he and his troops have their hands tied.This film effectively displays the irrationality of hate crimes and genocide. The accompanying documentaries are enlightening showing the real Paul Rusesabagina, and we get a sense that the heroism shown in the movie is no exaggeration. We are also chillingly reminded that genocide is ongoing in Africa (at present in the Congo and Sudan). The challenge is plainly issued for the world to step up.

It was really, really good. I had to watch it for school but I really did love it

Enjoyed the show in preparation for trip to Rwanda. When we got there we found out how much of it is embellished inaccurate and dramatized. Gives the story of Rwanda Genocide for the general population but when you go with a guide to the actual site it is not to scale and eyeopening particularly about the lead character