Hotel Rwanda

Previously appeared on www.oxygen.ie
March 2005

As Hotel Rwanda opens things are about to kick off in Rwanda's capital Kigali. Machete wielding mobs throng the streets, houses are burning, radio broadcasts are urging the Hutu majority to eradicate the Tutsi minority and the UN's 30 strong peacekeeping force are sitting around scratching their heads, powerless to intervene.

The difference between Hutu and Tutsi is totally artificial, created by Belgian colonials, but now it is the difference between life and death. This division is especially important to Paul Rusesabagina [Don Cheadle], the manager of the swishest hotel in Kigali as his wife Tatiana [Sophie Oronokwo] is Tutsi. In a Schindler's List type twist a group of friends and neighbours come under Paul's protection and with the Interahamwe militia intent on eradicating all the Tutsi "cockroaches", and the West wringing their hands uselessly, their lives become Paul's responsibility.

The UN protected Hotel Milles Collines is safe for the moment. It's where the richest foreigners stay, the UN observers brief the western press, and corrupt army generals sip the best Scotch in the country. As the carnage intensifies outside, Paul knows that the only chance to keep his family safe is to keep up appearances, keep the Hotel Milles Collines running as normally as possible, and keep the bribes and flattery flowing.

The Westerners - Nick Nolte's bundle of tension UN peacekeeper, Joaquin Phoenix's bearded TV news cameraman and Cara Seymour's well meaning humanitarian worker - all try to do their bit, with varying degrees of limited success. Though they are all well meaning, there is little they can do as the Western governments are unwilling to do anything to help. When re-inforcements do eventually arrive, their mission is to evacuate the Americans and Europeans and then leave the Africans to get on with killing each other. As Joaquin says before getting out: "If people at home see this footage they'll go, 'Oh my God! That's horrible!" then go on eating their dinner." And we did.

So Paul must rely on his year's of experience dealing with the local leaders and warlords to keep his family alive. As a hotel manager Paul knows who is who in the country. He needs excellent Scotch to pay off the corrupt official army general who is protecting the hotel. He can only get this excellent Scotch from the unofficial militia leader responsible for many of the murder inciting broadcasts. It's a tightrope. On one trip to the warehouse a crate opens and it's full of machetes, the milita leader smiles and tells Paul how much profit he's making selling them on to the angry mobs. Paul makes his excuses and leaves.

Cheadle's performance is extraordinary, this is his film, and he really should have won the Best Actor Oscar. He is an ordinary, if very capable human being, and his whole life is falling apart. But he can't let it, he must keep everything going as normally as possible or his wife and kids will die. So he puts on his suit and cufflinks every morning and fakes business as usual, even while his hands shake so much he struggles to knot his tie.

Hotel Rwanda is brutal and shocking when it needs to be, but it also has great emotional scope and power. There are a couple of graphic machete and corpse filled scenes, but most of the action centres around the Hotel and Paul's frantic efforts to save his friends and family. The last hour or so is a rising crescendo of thrilling false dawns and close calls and the action is handled brilliantly by Belfast born director Terry George. There is always the danger with well meaning dramas like this that they come over all preachy or overly melodramatic, and don't bother to tell an entertaining story. Not here. George has produced a tremendously paced and crafted drama with an immensely affecting kick.

Hotel Rwanda is based on a true story and Paul Rusesabagina is a real person who used to manage the actual Hotel Milles Collines. The credits tell us that 1m people died, and that the situation is far from solved even now. We might not have been aware of the enormity of the events beforehand, but anybody who goes to see Hotel Rwanda can't but be affected by what they see. Whether you decide to do anything about it after, or just go on eating your dinner is up to you. Either way it's a great film. Go see it.