Review

Review Date: 9-January-05
Spoiler Rating: Medium
Juju Judgment: Juicy

Hotel Rwanda (2004)

"Hotel Rwanda" is the slightly fictionalized account of Paul Rusesabagina, manager of a posh hotel who preserved some 1,200 lives during Africa's most destructive civil war of the 20th century. After the assassination of the Rwandan president in April 1994, the ruling Hutus, both military and civilian, began an all-out effort to eradicate every member of their rival faction, the Tutsis. In a matter of months, over 800,000 citizens (in a country not much bigger than Vermont) were butchered and left to rot, while the rest of the world sat by and did nothing. By using his acquaintance with powerful men both in and out of the country, Paul was able to keep the murderous mob from taking over his hotel until he could transport its refugees to safety.

Filmmaker Terry George sets out to educate and chastise his western audience about the brutality and indifference that surrounded these events, and while his plea for acknowledgment is a laudable act of social consciousness, it's a questionable foundation for a non-documentary film. At times "Hotel Rwanda" feels like a series of newsflashes which the viewer is asked to watch for his or her own good (although the carnage is less graphic than what we get on the news), and it suffers from the lack of structure that often plagues true tales. Yet the story, once commenced, is impossible to diminish or ignore, and it is wisely tempered with scenes that transcend the narrow confines of a history lesson.

These scenes — which provide an element of the human, as opposed to humanity writ large — revolve around the performances of Don Cheadle as Paul and Sophie Okonedo as his wife, Tatiana. The ever-reliable Cheadle assumes a dichotomous quality of gentleness and resolve that is truly fascinating and refreshingly realistic. (I actually caught myself thinking, "When will we see the serious violence that triggers the hero to pick up a gun and start shooting?" I've been watching too many Hollywood movies.) Paul's decorous efficiency is the force that keeps him, his family, and his neighbors alive, and when it threatens to break the movie reaches maximum intensity. In addition, his loving marriage is the source of humor and feeling that keeps the audience from dissociating corpses from people and falling into a tragedy-overload stupor.

The other actors generally represent groups instead of individuals (e.g., Nick Nolte as a UN colonel, Cara Seymour as a British relief worker, Joaquin Phoenix as an American reporter), although Fana Mokoena has a meaty role as Hutu military leader Augustin Bizimungu, whose pettiness is astounding (and earned him a seat before a war crimes tribunal). Indeed, George makes a point to allude to all involved (or shamefully uninvolved) parties, including the former Belgian colonists who fanned the dissension between the Hutus and Tutsis in the first place. "Hotel Rwanda" is his way of saying "Look at the horrors perpetrated and consider the mercies left undone!", and he has good reason to say it. Fortunately, he chooses a fitting mouthpiece to make his voice heard.

Copyright © 2005 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.