Hotel Rwanda (2004)

Hotel Rwanda is based on a true story that emerged from one of the greatest tragedies of modern times: the genocide of more than a million Tutsis by their Hutu rivals in the central African nation of Rwanda. Many, me included, know little about this conflict, and this is one of the core points of this movie: the indifference.

The strength of this picture does not rely on showing the atrocities of the nearly forgotten massacre. There is no graphic violence and by the end we see more bodies than killings. We become unwitting witnesses to a reality where we can only glimpse at its consequences.

The vision of the director, Terry George, is not to address the grievances of all victims, but to tell one man's story. Paul Rusesabagina (Don Cheadle) is the Hutu manager of a luxury hotel in the Rwandan capital of Kigali in the nineties. He personifies good manners and rationality despite the slaughter that puts his Tutsi wife Tatiana (Sophie Okonedo) and his children in danger. This story is the portrayal of a middle class man who starts fighting to save his own family, but who ends up saving more than a thousand.

Produced by five countries and spoken in English, Hotel Rwanda offers a powerful reminder of the kind of senseless horror that can result from race and/or ethnic hatred.Probably not as artistic as one could expect, this movie relies on its heart more than its style.

The picture highlights human strengths and weaknesses. It shows people facing uncertainty, horror, ridicule, anger, death and struggling with their dignity. But at the same time it depicts the difference that a single man can accomplish. This is one of those films that deserves to be seen; not for its artistic style or creative script, but for its ability to inspire. By the end, it is impossible not to be moved by a courageous man, to be devastated by the deaths of more than a million victims or to question the world’s unwillingness to save them. Don’t wait for the DVD and catch it in Regal Ballston, Cinema Arts Theatre or Dupont Circle 5.