Hotel Rwanda (2004) Movie Review, Trailer, Film Still and Poster

UK, USA, Italy, South Africa 2004
Director: Terry George
Cast: Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo, Nick Nolte, Joaquin Phoenix, Fana Mokoena, Desmond Dube, Tony Kgoroge
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: 25 February 2005 (UK)
Running Time: 2 hours 1 minute 14 seconds

The Movie Review

Hotel Rwanda film still 1


HOTEL RWANDA
Storyline:
Cast:
Ending:
Overall:

Viewing a movie which is based on true story doubles the excitement as well as the intensity, especially a drama movie which is based on one of the worst and dreadful tragedies in a history of mankind, a genocide that took place in Africa. Terry George held a big burden to sit on the director's chair, he had to ensure that the messages of the real incident would be echoed clearly and objectively to the world. And I admire him for having successfully achieved that, and the good thing is, Hotel Rwanda is also a very compelling cinema-wise movie, although the content is anything but 'happy'.

Hotel Rwanda tells the true story of a man named Paul Rusesabagina (Played by Don Cheadle) who works as a hotel manager of Sabena Hôtel des Mille Collines in Kigali. Paul is a respectable man who is more of a skillful diplomat than just a manager. He befriends anybody and everybody from any races and nations. Be it the Foreigners, Hutu or Tutsi. Paul himself is a Hutu with a loyal wife, Tatiana (Sophie Okonedo) who is a Tutsi. The situation in Rwanda is highly unstable and the people already fear the steadily-increasing tension between the Tutsis and the Hutus especially with the presence of the Interahamwe (the anti-Tutsi militia), which one of the leaders is none other than Paul's own best friend, Georges Rutaganda (Hakeem Kae-Kazim).

Finally, what people fear the most comes to reality when the president of Rwanda is assassinated which leads the chaos created by the Interahamwe. The worst thing is that the Interahamwe seeks to eradicate the Tutsi for good by brutal and savage means. The only hope for the remaining Tutsis in Kigali is to seek refuge in the hotel managed by Paul Rusesabagina. And now that 4-star hotel is the only building stands both as diplomatic house and refugee camp for the people of Rwanda as well as the original guests and reporters currently staying in Hôtel des Mille Collines. Could Paul still manage the situation amidst the ever-increasing tension amidst, gun fights and genocide? What will happen to Paul and his Tutsi family? What will happen to the people of Rwanda...?

A very Simple premise, but the fact and the plot are far more dreadful and intricate. It's a movie where each actor's acting skill is needed so badly, that if they screwed their own part, this movie would be nothing but a mockery to the ill fate that befell the people of Rwanda. Thankfully, every actor performs brilliantly, ranging from the leads to the supporting actors, they could deliver their dialogues and the facial expressions in the needed proportion. This is a drama film, and it is a very depressing one, but Don Cheadle and the rest of the cast didn't turn themselves into cheesy drama queens. Certainly Don's great performance was already expected recalling his performance in Crash (2004). But in Hotel Rwanda, his acting skill really shines.

Considering the cinematography, I personally have a special interest in the land of Africa and a great fan of Putumayo's CD of African's sounds. So for this reviewer, I consider most of the frames in Hotel Rwanda are artistic. From the shots of the streets, the blockades, to the pile of corpses, the camerawork is excellent. Of course, the soundtracks fit the occasion and the mood. Hotel Rwanda would play with your emotion. The first opening scenes are light-hearted, though we soon learn that it won't be a cheerful film once you see a load of machetes in one scene. The change of pace and mood is a solid choice to depict mankind tragedy, first, the story shows you the peacefulness of Paul's family and Rwanda in general with the children's playing and giggling, and the hectic activity of the hotel business, then it will gradually flip the whole thing over into a devastating tragedy.

It won't be long before you root for Paul Rusesabagina, a sympathetic man who is clearly a family man, being very diplomatic to the U.N. officers and other high rank people and Paul even care enough to know all his employees' names one by one. Talking about the detail that the writers had given attention to..., kudos for them. After Hotel Rwanda went international, several movies sharing the same theme had followed: Sometimes in April (2005), Shooting Dogs (2005), Un Dimanche à Kigali (2006), Shake Hands with the Devil (2007). Probably it took movies sometimes to bring worldwide attention to a human tragedy. But Hotel Rwanda has marked its achievement with 3 Academy Award nominees in Best Lead Actor, Best Lead Actress and Best Original Screenplay as well as 3 Golden Globe nominees in Best Motion Picture, Best Lead Actor and Best Original Song.

Something precious that we would learn from this film is when talking about people, colour doesn't mean squat. From this movie the audience would further learn that there are noble whites, despicable whites as well as there are compassionate blacks and detestable blacks. Good deed knows no skin colour and patriotism knows no status. It's your heart that eventually matters after all.