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February 18, 2005 at 10:54 pm #17038RabidKittenParticipant
What IMDb has to say about Hotel Rwanda:
“Ten years ago some of the worst atrocities in the history of mankind took place in the country of Rwanda–and in an era of high-speed communication and round the clock news, the events went almost unnoticed by the rest of the world. In only three months, one million people were brutally murdered. In the face of these unspeakable actions, inspired by his love for his family, an ordinary man summons extraordinary courage to save the lives of over a thousand helpless refugees, by granting them shelter in the hotel he manages.”
Firstly, don’t let the fact that there’s been virtually no advertising for this movie throw you off. Hotel Rwanda stars Don Cheadle and features Nick Nolte and Joaquin Phoenix, along with a lot of other lovely actors, regardless of them not being big names.The basis of this movie is a true story. Don plays Paul Rusesabagina, who housed over a thousand Tutsis refugees in a 4 star belgian hotel that he managed in Rwanda in 1994 when the world turned their back on the country.
The background in this story is that when the Belgian people came to Rwanda, they decided to split up the people there. People with lighter skin, taller builds and thinner noses were concidered to be more “attractive” and they were called the Tutsi people and were given advantage and power. The others were called the Hutus. When the Belgians left, the Hutus became enraged and hostile and eventually, in 1994, decided to take compensation for years of abuse by killing Tutsis.
Don plays a Hutu man with a Tutsi wife and friends. He also manages a 4 star Belgian hotel and when the World turns their backs on them and pulls the UN peacekeepers out, he houses them there. But, in order to do so he must lie, cheat, blackmail and pay off anyone who poses a threat and also must keep the guise up that these are hotel guests to keep the Hutu malitia at bay while the Rwandan army does nothing.
By the 100th day, one million Tutsi people had been murdered. Orphans were thrown in fires and women were raped to death in order to kill off the next generation. All people who were not Rwandan were evacuated from the country within the first 2 weeks and the UN was pulled out soon after. This movie is a vicious tale, but a beautiful dipiction of the human will to live and shows how heartless the ‘super powers’ of the world and the world in general can truely be.
Not a gory movie, but hard to watch simply because of the great story telling, the dirty, unfanciful cinamatography and the fact that those who were involved were not afraid to show the dirty facts of this tragety. Suspenseful Drama and will definately have your heart in your throat and on the edge of your seat. I would say that it definately rivals “Schindler’s List” as far as instant classics that show the beauty and ugliness of humanity at the same time.
To say in a sentance, definately worth adding to your own library of movies.
February 19, 2005 at 12:45 am #114973Hurricane22491MemberI’ve heard really good things about this movie, but I haven’t seen it in theatres. Maybe I’ll rent it when it comes out on DVD.
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