I have cried at two movies in my life. This is one. Just so you know I’m not an easy touch.
In April 1994 the nation of Rwanda descended into madness, wherein half of the population decided to murder the other half. In July 1994 rebel forces managed to defeat the current regime and put an end to the slaughter. In those three to four months somewhere between eight hundred thousand and one million Rwandans (out of a population, near as I can determine from Googling, of about ten million) were murdered. Mostly by machetes. I remember hearing the news reports every day and thinking, This is exaggeration. It has to be exaggeration; whenever you hear about horrible stuff happening overseas, it’s always exaggerated, right?
We didn’t hear or—more importantly for Western sensibilities—see the half of it.
Apparently people who lived there didn’t believe it was going to be that bad either. Paul Rusesabagina, the general manager of a Belgian-airline-owned luxury hotel resort in Kigali, is a man of the world: He’s smooth and efficient, he knows everyone, and he knows how to keep everyone’s back scratched. He gets cartons of Cuban cigars to pass out as grease to businessmen, he keeps scotch on hand for the generals who hang out in his hotel, he keeps a stack of cash on hand to tuck into pockets everywhere to get things done. And he thinks the increasing fear of the Hutu militias is just foolish. Nothing’s going to happen.
He is, of course, very, very wrong.
Rusesabagina was in a position to do something, however: he turned the Hotel des Mille Collines into an impromptu refugee camp, sheltering 1200 Hutus and Tutsis from the insanity outside, mostly by not only sheer force of will and luck, but because of the relationships—and favors—he had built up over the years. At last, at long last, due to Rusesabagina’s relentless working of relationships and directing his “guests” how to do likewise, the refugees are among the lucky ones: they get sprung. They get to become refugees across the border in Tanzania.
Hotel Rwanda manages to pull off the impossible: demonstrating the horror of what was going on with a PG-13 rating. Which means you don’t see the massacres going on (except in one scene, where you see something, off in the distance, on a video monitor). Pretty much everything is implied; the horror is left to you. Believe me, you’ll do quite well on your own. A casual comment like, “Tutsi whores are all witches,” illustrates a world of what’s happened that depicting on screen would simply be pornographic titillation.
The movie is not unrelenting grimness: the depiction of Paul’s relationships, with his family, with his staff, with the UN commander, and with the armies wreaking havoc on his country are beautiful. In the middle of the horror there is a funny love scene between Paul and his wife, in which he confesses that his ability to grease the system extended to her. Don Cheadle is fabulous here: I’d definitely vote for him as Best Actor. He juggles fury, determination, and a calm demeanor beautifully. You understand his frustration when he realizes his whole existence as a slick intermediary for the Belgians means nothing; at the same time, his abilities are what kept a small pocket people alive for months. It’s really bravura stuff, much more impressive than some of the other nominated performances I’ve seen.
I thought the movie did a wonderful job of shorthanding what led up to the Rwandan massacres: the ethnic division between Hutu and Tutsis, which was the legacy of the Belgian colonists; the involvement of the Western powers not only not stopping the massacres but in keeping them going; the easy way that propaganda can incite people to do horrific things.
One element is hinted at but never spelled out for the viewer, though: the reason the word “genocide” was never used by the Western powers. Because according to the UN charter, if there is genocide, UN signatories are obligated to intervene.
I didn’t particularly want to see this movie: you know, genocide. But since it came down to this versus Million Dollar Baby, we went to this one. I’m sorry I waited so long. I highly recommend it.
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Good thing we’ll never see anything like the Rwanda genocide again.
If you want to know more of what really happened, the General who led the UN force that attempted to derail the violence (and was sadly let down by the major powers) has written a book about it: Shake Hands With the Devil, by Romeo Dallaire (he was VERY LOOSELY the basis for Nick Nolte’s character in the movie).
“The book is always better than the movie”
Another book that tells stories of the Rwandan genocide (from the perspective of Rwandans) is _We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families_ by Philip Gourevitch.
In this particular case, I think the book Is *different* from the movie.
I love Don Cheadle and think he’s brilliant. I will never forget that party scene in Boogie Nights when the porn party’s over and Cheadle’s character is sitting there bored and grim in his hilarious Rick James wig–the very picture of the end of an era! A highly underappreciated actor.
Finally watched the film this past weekend and thought it was excellent.
I think the first time I heard about the genocide was when my sister (who works in publishing) was telling us about the Gourevitch book a few years ago.
I watched the movie and also read the book,I thought that it was very sad,To know that it happened to so many innocent people. And I think that the world should know what went on, so that those types of thing’s dont ever happen again.
Hi, I think that this was the most intriguing movie that i have ever seen. It was so heart felt. It has had a big effect on the way i view life. I have come to figure, that judging people is a crime. I have come to figure that all people are equal, and and all that were in the genocide, have not been credited as much as they should have been. Although the holocaust was pretty drastic, hotel rwanda was the worst.