Hotel Rwanda Review

     There is a quote by William Shakespeare that goes as follows: "Be not afraid of greatness: some men are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them." This quote perfectly reflects what happened to Paul Rusesabagina, in the true story of Hotel Rwanda.

    It is the tale of a Hutu moderate who was unwillingly thrust into a genocide built from hatred, fear and misinformation. Paul is just a man doing his job at the Hotel des Milles Collines, building up connections with rich men, when suddenly his country dissolves into chaos. Neighbours are being slaughtered in their front yards, and many go to Paul for help. This is where Shakespeare’s quote comes in. Paul is pushed into the situation of either leaving his helpless neighbours to fend for themselves, or risking himself as well and doing something about it. Paul ends up doing the right thing, though it is definitely not the easiest decision. 

    Don Cheadle does a great job of playing this reluctant hero who suddenly has a dozen people under his care. Once they make it to the hotel, this number is raised even more as Tutsi orphans and other refugees are brought to his hotel for safety.

     Although Paul just wants to take care of his family and get them out of the country, he has had “greatness thrust upon” him, and must take care of all the people whose lives depend on him keeping control of the hotel. Paul uses his various connections and tries to keep the people safe for as long as possible. He also has to keep the Interahamwe as well as the other Hutu extremists from entering the hotel and killing as many “cockroaches” as possible. Cheadle does a great job in showing his character’s reluctance to be great, yet still taking the task and doing as well a job as he could. 

     Someone who didn’t portray their real person as well as they should have is Nick Nolte. Playing a Romeo Dallaire-ish character, Nolte spends a lot of time doing ... well, nothing. If he had spent any time at all trying to get to know Dallaire and realized what the situation was in Rwanda, he might have decided to portray the character differently. For example, I’m not sure Dallaire ever actually threw his blue hat on the ground when he was frustrated, nor did he stumble around and drink too much. Nolte definitely disappointed in what could have been a very successful portrayal of a helpless man. 

     Another great performance was from Sophie Okonedo, who portrayed Paul’s Tutsi spouse, Tatiana. She is a woman torn between the safety of her family, but also the welfare of her brother and sister-in-law, who disappeared, and were probably murdered. Her fear is shown in every scene, but her chemistry with Cheadle is also very apparent in every scene together. Every word and every touch just show how much their characters loved each other, and how badly they wanted to get out of Rwanda alive. 

     As for the tone of the film, there is obviously a lot of dark material that is being dealt with, such as Rusesabagina driving over dead bodies on the way to get supplies, or people being knocked down with machetes. In addition, the mood of the people in the film were a very good way to see the tone of the film. Their despair, fear and hopelessness shone through every moment, and was a successful way of revealing how the people of Rwanda must have felt at the time.

     In addition, weather played a big role as well. In a powerful scene where the white people are leaving, it starts raining. Not to sound too corny, but it is almost as if the country itself is crying from the fact that the only people who could possibly deter the Interahamwe are leaving the black Rwandans to their fate. On the other hand, it is also quite disturbing to see so many dark events happening in such a beautiful country, though the filming did not actually take place in Rwanda. 

Although, by being a drama film, there is obviously a lot more attention paid to the emotional part of the genocide rather than the killing, it was still an accurate way to show common film goers about the atrocities that occurred in a small African country. 
     For its good portrayal of a true story and powerful emotions it brings forward, this film is deserving of 7.5/10. However, with the acting of Cheadle and Okenedo, the film can be boosted to an 8/10.