Go see this year's Schindler's List: Hotel Rwanda!

[JCPhoenix]

Okay, I know I know, everyone's saying that and it's not quite at the level of Spielberg's masterpiece, but it's a damn fine film about a horrific massacre that the world knew about but didn't care enough to do a thing.

It's really quite a powerful film and while it is horrifying to watch it and see how the world stood by and let a million people die, the film keeps its balance well. It never dives into really sappy melodrama, focusing on this one place of hope (the hotel) with some flashes of the horror outside the walls rather than gratuitiously showing violence just to shock people (i.e. it's not as depressing as one might think even though by the end of the film, you are (or should be) quite shocked by the atrocities that took place)

Don Cheadle puts in the performance possibly of his career...very powerful work, and the rest of the cast is very strong (including Sophie Okonedo who plays his wife and Nick Nolte who plays a U.N. Colonel) with minisupporting roles from Jean Reno and Joaquin Phoenix.

There are many scenes that are extraordinarily tense...one, especially with a group of people who are aided by the U.N. Colonel to try and escape and another when the main character looks for his wife and children...

This film is not just something that people should watch to see the genocide the world ignored but rather it is also well-made on strictly a film level. Meaning, I'm not just saying this because of the subject matter. The film itself is well-written (and apparently extremely accurate as they worked with the real guy when writing the script) and on a technical level, it is quite superb.


Go see this if you can! It's only in limited release right now...I have no idea when it expands.

9/10

[Fisting Ackbar]

Agreed with the above post. Though I'd give it an 8/10 myself.

[Fidelio1st]

Hotel Rwanda (2004) -PG-13-

Directed by: Terry George
Written by: Keir Pearson, Terry George
Starring: Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo, Nick Nolte, Antonio David Lyons, Joaquin Phoenix, Cara Seymour

A “Hotel California” State of Mind in a War Torn Rwanda

While The Aviator was a bit of a disappointment, I’m still stuck on the Howard Hughes character. I may have a bit of OCD. Whenever I think of the title of the new Don Cheadle film, Hotel Rwanda, I can’t stop signing the Eagles song “Hotel California” in my head, over and over again.

While of course the song has many interpretations, from an allegory on Vietnam, to just life in California, some of the lyrics ring true about the Hotel Mille Collines—the hotel Paul Rusesabagina (Cheadle) uses as a safe house. “Such a lovely place….Plenty of room at the Hotel California …They're livin' it up at the Hotel California…This could be Heaven or this could be Hell.”

The Belgian owned Hotel Mille Collines in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, is a place of elegance, where people come to expect the best. Civil War has broken out in Rwanda between the Hutu extremists and their Tutsi neighbors. Just as a peace agreement is reached and signed, the Hutus kill the President, and begin a slaughter of every Tutsi around. The only safe place that they won’t touch is the Hotel Mille Collines, which is guarded by the United Nations.

When the original hotel manager flees, along with the other foreign nationals, Paul Rusesabagina takes over. He shelters the many Tutsi who are running for their lives. But he understands and instills in his staff that the Hotel Mille Collines must retain its reputation as a prestigious hotel to outsiders. Rusesabagina decides to keep up the appearance of the hotel’s prestige, instead of letting it look like a refuge camp in which the Hutu extremists would surely overtake and slaughter everyone.

Before the war broke out, Rusesabagina made friends in high places by bribing them with the finest wines and Cuban cigars. Now he is calling in his favors to save lives. This is only one of the brilliant political moves that Rusesabagina uses during the genocide that’s happening all around him in his country. Rusesabagina’s uses the instincts he’s picked up as a hotel manager to save over 1,200 people.

Hotel Rwanda becomes sentimental in a few scenes, but it’s forgivable due to the intensity leading up to them. We feel for Rusesabagina’s struggle to save the refugees, and his own family. There are many moments of intensity that keep you on the edge of your seat. The hotel always seems to be on the brink of invasion.

I also couldn’t believe this is only rated PG-13. Then I thought back and realized, most of the images of the slaughter are shown very briefly on the TV, and they talk about it mostly. Terry George was brilliant in the way he makes you feel like you are there, but not showing too many scenes of violence.

The outbreak of war, the disturbing images of genocide, and Don Cheadle’s amazing career performance as the lead make Hotel Rwanda the best film of 2004, and also one of the most intense films I’ve seen since City of God.


Recommended Alternatives: Schindler’s List; City of God; Boogie Nights; Out of Sight; Affliction

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ARTICLE on Carlito's Way Prequelitis (Yes that's right, a prequel is in the works)

“But, I'm funny how? Funny like a clown? I amuse you? I make you laugh?”—Tommy, Goodfellas

[Fidelio1st]

Has anyone else seen this yet? I really hope HOTEL RWANDA cleans up at the awards this year. It deserves it!

[Jose Pidol]

Hotel Rwanda
Rating: 10/10
Oscar Chances: Don Cheadle, Actor; Sophie Okonedo, Supporting Actress; Terry George, Director; “Million Voices” (Wyclef Jean), Original Song; Best Picture

The year was 1994. Try remembering what you were doing that year. I was still in grade school then, probably worrying about the science or math quiz that I didn’t study for (come to think of it, I never really gave a *bleep* about my grades anyway). Checking on the significant events of that year, I see that it was the year O.J Simpson lost his mind, Ayrton Senna lost his life, and Kurt Cobain lost both (Sorry y’all Cobain fans, I apologize already even before I receive hate messages). However, none of them compares to the loss of thousands of lives in Rwanda that year. If you asked me 11 years ago what I knew about Rwanda, I would’ve shrugged my shoulders. The sad thing is this: apparently, the whole world also did, and looked the other way.

Based on a true story, Hotel Rwanda is an account of how hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina (Don Cheadle) sheltered hundreds of refugees from ethnic cleansing. For years, the two major ethnic groups of Rwanda – the Hutus and the Tutsis – have been at odds with each other. Just as the two groups were about to sign a peace accord to end decades of animosity, the plane of the Rwandan president (a Hutu) is gunned down, sending the country into a state of anarchy. Military and militia groups began rounding up and killing as many Tutsis they could find, as well as Hutus sympathetic to the Tutsis. (Click this link for more information on the Rwandan Genocide)

The brilliance of director Terry George’s work is that he doesn’t concentrate on the gruesome aspect of the situation. He doesn’t try to do a Michael Moore-esque impression of the horrors of war, nor does he make the film a political statement on who-is-to-blame-for-what. There are no fancy camera tricks here, no special effects, no horrid and violent pictures of people killed with bolos and machetes. Instead, he centers his film on Cheadle’s character, and how he reacts to the atrociousness that is unraveling around him. The film is hinged on its subject matter, and delivers its message strongly and convincingly. George masterfully builds up the pace of the story just as you’d expect in real life situations. At first, the tone of the film is more subdued and indifferent to the escalating tension that surrounds the hotel. He gradually changes the pace, giving the viewers a real sense of panic as violence slowly approaches the hotel and its occupants. I kid you not; it’s story-telling at its finest.

George also uses a faceless voice as the film’s antagonist – the Hutu radio station announcer who incites the militia to seek Tutsi blood. With words of hatred and calls for bloodshed, the voice can be compared to the evil whisper that we hear in our heads. As the hate-mongering voice bombards the airwaves with messages like “Kill the cockroaches,” we are reminded by the ugliness that humans are capable of.

Don Cheadle gives the performance of a lifetime as hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina, the unwitting hero. He worries for his family’s welfare first and foremost; his heroism is not really borne out of bravery or a sense of righteousness. But as the war is brought closer and closer to his hotel, we see Paul coming to terms with his role as the protector and father figure not only of his immediate family, but also of 1200 people. Cheadle delivers a passionate and powerful performance as Paul. Consistent with the film’s style, there are no big speeches or fist-wagging calls for courage ala-Braveheart here, but Cheadle manages to convey the sentiments of hopelessness and valor in a compelling fashion. His portrayal is not as high-profile as Jamie Foxx in Ray, but I truly believe he deserves the Oscar more than anybody else.

The underlying love story between Paul and his wife Tatiana is held together by Sophie Okonedo, making her an underdog for a supporting role award this year. Nick Nolte and Joaquin Phoenix play lesser roles as a UN Colonel and American journalist, respectively. Given minimal screen time, Phoenix makes do with what he has, and by the time he delivers the film’s most important message, he does so in a way that hits you in the gut.


"I think if people see this footage they'll say, ‘Oh my God, that's horrible,’ and go on eating their dinners."

Hotel Rwanda is inspiring and disturbing at the same time. It has drawn comparisons to Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List, and it’s a pity the film is not getting the same buzz as Spielberg’s work. Be that as it may, Hotel Rwanda is a must-see, and may well be the most important film of the year.