HOTEL RWANDA

A very good, very powerful and very haunting film.

It’s hard to see a film like Hotel Rwanda and say you really liked it. With its dark subject matter and somber story, it’s doesn’t exactly make for an easy movie-going recommendation, and I suspect you’d be hard-pressed to find someone exclaiming, “Hey! Let’s go see that movie about the Rwandan genocide tonight!” But Hotel Rwanda *is* a very good, very powerful and very haunting film that is definitely worth seeing, and it succeeds by taking a massive, tragic event and sharpening the scope by telling its story through the eyes of one man.

Don Cheadle stars as real-life Hutu hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina, who handles the comings and goings of guests and workers at Kigali’s luxurious Hotel Des Milles Collines. He’s an expert diplomat and keeps the hotel running smoothly amid a very tenuous political climate. But in 1994, Hutu rebels begin massacring Rwandan Tutsis, the Belgian-favored race who ruled the country for decades. The Hutus’ mission is to exterminate the entire Tutsi population, and Paul suddenly finds himself (and his hotel) the only safe haven for those desperately trying to escape execution by machete. Adding to his increasingly frantic situation is the fact that his wife, Tatiana (Sophie Okonedo, in a brilliant performance), is Tutsi and essentially a marked woman, as are their children.

The Milles Collines becomes the only refuge for hundreds of citizens fleeing certain death and, despite Paul’s efforts and those of a beleaguered U.N. peacekeeper (Nick Nolte) trying to protect the grounds, the global community turns a blind eye. International relief does not arrive. Military aid is nonexistent and troops are actually pulled out of the violent area. Paul is basically left alone, with his hotel full of refugees, to die.

Since this is a true story, we know that Paul does not, in fact, die, and how he manages to save the lives of more than 1200 people is a testament to his fortitude. He proves that the work of a single figure can make a difference, even in the face of such monumental carnage. Director Terry George wisely opts to avoid graphic depictions of the killings in favor of ominous portents of doom and foreshadowing. When a giant crate breaks open in a warehouse belonging to a Hutu general and hundreds of machetes spill out, the audience knows what’s to come. There are moments that may make you want to avert your eyes, but those are kept to a minimum.

Both Cheadle and Okonedo are outstanding. Their performances are rich, heartbreaking, intense and, at times, even funny. They have several searing scenes together where their characters’ desperation is palpable and their realization that one or both of them may be slaughtered practically screams forth from just the expressions on their faces. There’s never any melodrama or overacting, and they both choose just the right notes from scene to scene.

It’s hard to find something great to say about Hotel Rwanda that hasn’t already been said by dozens of other people. So I’ll just say this: go see it. Bring your friends. And Kleenex.