In one of the opening scenes of Hotel Rwanda, Paul Rusesabagina and his family watch from behind a fence as their neighbor is beaten to death. Paul, feeling that he can do nothing to help his old friend, shrugs his shoulders and turns back to his family. Scenes like this one capture the sheer horror of the massacre and ask important questions about how the rest of the world reacts to such atrocities. The film boldly deals with a dark chapter in the history of America and the world, of which few people are aware.
Hotel Rwanda, written and directed by Terry George, is the first major Hollywood film produced about the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, in which the Hutu majority of the country slaughtered close to one million Tutsis in just under 100 days. The film presents an honest portrait of one man, a Hutu named Paul Rusesabagina, played by Don Cheadle (Ocean’s 11, After the Sunset). Paul only wants to protect his family and wait for the war to end, but as the manager of the prestigious Milles Colones hotel in Kigali, the Rwandan capital, he must oversee a business that quickly becomes a refugee camp. He is unwittingly dragged into the bloody civil war, providing protection for about 900 Tutsis and Hutus.
Cheadle gives the best performance of his career playing Paul as a completely believable heroic figure. Still, the movie doesn’t give much insight into his transformation from caring family man to protector of the innocent. He seems to take the transition in stride, showing little evidence of internal conflict. His wife, Tatiana, is played by Sophie Okonedo (Dirty Pretty Things). While she is beautiful, she seems to have very little to do besides look worried. Nick Nolte (The Hulk, The Good Thief) has a supporting role as Colonel Oliver of the UN peacekeeping force, but because of his ambiguous actions and lack of emotion, it’s hard to tell whether he’s good or bad. Though American, he hates the West and everything America stands for, but whether or not he considers himself part of the enemy is left unclear. Joaquin Phoenix (Gladiator, The Village) is impressive in his minor role as a journalist covering the genocide, but he leaves the plot relatively early.
These flaws in the movie’s characters, however, do not undermine the drama and impact of Hotel Rwanda. Despite some flaws, Hotel Rwanda deserves the praise it has received, but perhaps not some of the parallels that are being drawn. Many critics, in reviewing Hotel Rwanda, have compared it to Schindler’s List, a far more influential and timeless movie. Though inferior to Schindler’s List, Hotel Rwanda remains an excellent movie in its own right and portrays the under-recognized ethnic cleansing remarkably well.
Hopefully this film will lead to greater knowledge and understanding of the Rwandan genocide and racial and tribal conflict in Africa, and the obligations of the West in humanitarian crises. Even if the film doesn’t spark more coverage of Rwanda specifically, there are many other examples from the same period, like those of Yugoslavia or East Timor, that would benefit from the thorough, personal approach of Hotel Rwanda.
