Hotel Rwanda
June 15th, 2006 · Posted in Reviews · 16 CommentsIf you haven’t seen this movie, I suggest you stop reading, go and hire it, come back, watch it, then continue reading.
Seen it yet?
Didn’t think so. Go watch it. I really mean it.
Paul Rusesabagina was the hotel manager of the Hotel Mille Colline in Rwanda. In 1994, the Hutu majority began the systematic torture and murder of around a million Tutsis. The Mille Colline became a safe haven for over a thousand refugees whilst thousands upon thousands of ‘cockroaches’ were brutally murdered and raped with machetes whilst the UN stood by watching. This movie is about Paul and his family.
It is not a nice movie, but it is a great movie.
There is no gore shown, just blood (and not much of that). The director didn’t want to give anyone an excuse not to watch it for it’s violence.
I learnt the following after watching this movie:
- Don Cheadle is an exceptional actor.
- The UN seriously screwed up. Useless in resolving conflicts. Keeping the peace by allowing the silence of the grave is not keeping the peace. The UN needs to radically rethink it’s goals and methods. Letting a million people be slaughtered while standing by and watching does not constitute leadership (or anything other than complicity).
- Africa is seriously screwed up. Genocide seems to be an African tradition. It happened in Rwanda. It’s happening now in the Congo and the Sudan.
- People are seriously screwed up. Anyone who says the heart of man is ultimately good is wrong. That normal people can treat others like animals to be killed, merely because they have a slightly narrower nose, is evidence of this. That good people can stand by and let it happen is proof.
RodeoClown: wept.
June 15th, 2006 at 10:40 am
I saw this movie and agree its not a nice movie but it is a great movie indeed. It was very disturbing but I am glad I watched it.
ps I love how you have your name at the bottom of each post with a little word or two.
Nixter: wept too…
June 15th, 2006 at 11:00 am
I didn’t particularly want to watch it, but I thought it was handled with much sensitivity. The lack of violence was a well-thought out decision, and one that I applaud.
Graphic depictions of violence just make it seem like an action film appealing to our baser selves.
I’m glad you like the little tag, I saw someone do a similar thing, only he only had a single word, and thought that it would be good to do – gives each post a little bit more information/summary.
June 15th, 2006 at 11:46 am
Yeah I thinks it cool, why Rodeo Clown by the way??
June 15th, 2006 at 12:08 pm
The origin of the RodeoClown.
June 15th, 2006 at 12:27 pm
yes
June 15th, 2006 at 12:30 pm
Ummm… What’s that ‘yes’ for?
June 15th, 2006 at 1:15 pm
Yes – what is the origin of teh Rodeo Clown??
Am I just dumb?? I think I am..
June 15th, 2006 at 1:38 pm
What I posted was a link to the story…
If you click on it, you can read all about the name
June 15th, 2006 at 1:54 pm
Ohhhhhhhh yeahhhhhhh. I see.. Thanks for that RodeoClown not rodeo clown
June 15th, 2006 at 2:25 pm
You’re welcome.
June 15th, 2006 at 3:43 pm
I saw the movie first in the theater and later rented the video in order to watch the special features. After watching it the first time, i spent some time researching the events online. What i found that was interesting is that all the information – the TV spots overheard and the radio broadcasts included in the film were purposeful and gave important info about what was going on. Do you remember the TV news spot in which the woman announcer was asked if this was genocide? That was the key issue going on as far as the UN’s actions were concerned. Unless the UN determined that it was genocide, their forces were not allowed to intervene and their hands were tied. Unfortunately, from what I understand, it was largely the US reluctance to get involved in a war that influenced the delay. That reluctance was based on the US involvement in another country’s war that ended badly. (depicted in the movie Black Hawk Down). I don’t know much about world politics, so I don’t have any answers to these problems. But the timeline was very interesting to me.
June 15th, 2006 at 3:50 pm
That bit where she refused to call it genocide was horrible.
Even worse the fact that it was a real broadcast.
June 16th, 2006 at 1:09 am
Yes, Black Hawk Down was about the conflict in Mogadishu, Somalia in 1993 where 18 US soldiers were killed. A great book I read recently called Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures deals with those issues. It was written by three UN workers who were in Rwanda, Haiti, Mogadishu, Cambodia and Serbia during the 1990s. (And it’s not about sex, its more about genocide and the UN)
June 17th, 2006 at 12:03 pm
Calling the Tutsis of “cockroaches” is very significant – if you re-label people in that way, then you are justified in killing them. It goes to show the power of words.
I found Wyclef Jean’s song at the end to be particularly powerful:
Rwanda Rwanda
Yeah, Rwanda Rwanda
These are the cry of the children
Rwanda Rwanda
Anybody hear my cry?
If America, is the United States of America,
Then why can’t Africa, be the United States of Africa?
And if England, is the United Kingdom,
Then why can’t Africa unite all the kingdoms
and become United Kingdom of Africa?
June 17th, 2006 at 3:04 pm
That book sounds very interesting, Bron.
Rodeo, I just read your other reviews. I agree with you about Eternal Sunshine. I loved that movie. I was amazed by the creativity of the plot. i really like it when Jim Carey plays a serious role. I really don’t like his style of potty humor. And I thought the movie was thought-provoking about relationships and the value of commitment. It showed you what is lost when you quit on a relationship because it has become too hard. How much risk are you willing to take on a person and really commit to the relationship? Because the really worthwhile experiences will be lost if you don’t.
My husband and I really liked Murderball. Weren’t so crazy about the language, of course, or the sex stuff. But the resiliency displayed by the men and acceptance of their new lives. Their can-do attitude and lack of self-pity is refreshing and inspiring.
We don’t find many people who have seen these weird movies that we like, so it’s fun to read what you have written.
June 17th, 2006 at 3:41 pm
John – I used ‘cockroaches’ on purpose as it really shows what these people were being treated like – a pest to be eradicated.
I agree completely that those words are terrible. I try really hard to think about what I say (not that I’m always successful), to know what effect they will have on people who hear them.
Tracy – I like movies that are a bit ‘different’, but my wife isn’t as big a fan of them. Glad you liked the reviews.