Hotel Rwanda (2004)

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Hotel Rwanda (2004) – T. George

Immediately after watching The Killing Fields (1984), Hotel Rwanda made me feel overwhelmed.  Too much genocide, too much sadness about human nature.  Again, we follow a particular individual, Paul Rusesabagina (played by Don Cheadle), as a way of gaining entrance and insight into what otherwise might be a horrific but depersonalised tragedy, full of statistics about how many died but lacking a hand to hold onto.  To show us the Rwandan conflict between Hutus and Tutsis, director Terry George follows Ruesabagina, the manager of a Belgian hotel in the capital Kigali who takes in Tutsi and other refugees, offering them asylum in the hotel (as armed forces and youth gangs hover outside).  Ruesabagina is Hutu himself but his wife is Tutsi, making him a “traitor” in the eyes of the Hutu coup leaders.  He is a wheeler-dealer of sorts, always keeping the power elite happy with gifts and favours – but he finds that they are no longer there for him when war breaks out.  Nor are the Westerners who soon flee the country and fail to send aid.  Nick Nolte’s UN colonel does his best in an impossible situation but it is Rusesabagina’s quick thinking that keeps (some) people alive.  Cheadle is good in the central role, as is Sophie Okonedo who plays his wife (and a number of other actors in Rwandan parts are also convincing, whether they be corrupt generals, warlords, or hotel workers).  In the end, however, the enormity of the crisis, its woeful tragic effects on innocent people, tends to dwarf the story of Paul and his (Herculean) efforts to save people.  As a(nother) history lesson about what can happen when the world isn’t watching (or caring), this is an important document.  And as a demonstration of moral courage in the face of evil, let’s hope we could all be so brave.