HOTEL RWANDA
US, 2005, 123 minutes, Colour.
Don Cheadle, Sophie Oekanado, Nick Nolte, Joaquin Phoenix, David O ’Hara, Jean Reno, Cara Seymour.
Directed by Terry George.
The last decade of the 20th century saw a genocide in Africa that was cruel and vicious, the heritage of tribal enmities that had been fostered by imperial colonising powers and that the world was slow in acknowledging and dealing with. Hotel Rwanda is a cry for justice to a world audience ten years after the events where Tutsis and Bwa were massacred by Hutus, stirred on by hatred. For those who hunger and thirst for justice, they may have to wait a long time before being satisfied.
The oracles of the book of Isaiah were spoken in the hindsight of the devastation of Jerusalem in 587 BC and the majority of the population of Judaea being taken into exile in Babylon. The text in chapter 58 focuses on fasting. However, it repeats the theme that fasting without justice makes no impression on God. Setting the oppressed free, breaking every yoke, sharing bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and homeless, clothing the naked when you see them – this is what true religion is. The prophet also adds, ‘not turning your back on your own’.
This is what Paul Rusesabagina does when suddenly confronted by the Hutu uprising. A Hutu himself, he had a Tutsi wife, the mother of his children. In his role as the manager of the prestigious Kigali Milles Collines hotel, he moved amongst the local rich and famous as well as international visitors. A dapper man, he believed in good manners, efficient work and elegant style. His world is turned upside down.
His response, not a sudden overwhelming heroism, but a gradual response to ever-worsening situations, is the charity and justice that the scriptures exhort us to. He had to improvise, exert pressure where he could, try to maintain orderliness amongst the refugees in his hotel, help the Red Cross save children, negotiate with the United Nations officers, all the time emotionally anxious about his family. This is heroism in an ordinary man who never anticipated that his life would go in these directions.
It is probably a blessing for the commercial success of Hotel Rwanda that Don Cheadle and Sophie Okenado were nominated for acting Oscars, otherwise the film might have received very limited release. This happened with director Terry George’s moving film about IRA prisoners in the late 1970s, Some Mother’s Son. It was considered not commercial enough to warrant a promotion budget. Along with Raoul Peck’s quite similar, Sometimes in April, it offers an opportunity for a world audience to learn something about the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and learn lessons about compassion and the need for political will for help and intervention.
Shot principally in Rwanda, the film has an authentic look and feel, some of it with documentary vividness.
This is a particular focus on Paul, the manager of the Mille Collines Hotel and his helping refugees. Sometimes in April, directed by Raoul Peck is well worth seeing as a companion piece, along with Michael Caton Jones’ Shooting Dogs, also known as Beyond the Gates. It ranges far more broadly, especially with US policy and the aftermath ten years later. This is, rather, the story of an ordinary man who is asked to be more heroic than he ever imagined. His story is placed firmly in context so that we understand something of the uprising, the Hutu hatred of Tutsis (‘rebel cockroaches’), the urgings of hate radio, the slowness of the world to respond.
Don Cheadle (who can do comedy as well as con-man gangsters so well) is utterly persuasive as Paul. The audience experiences the action through complete sympathy with him. Sophie Okenedo is moving as his wife. A strong African cast gives authenticity and Nick Nolte (as UN leader) , Joaquin Phoenix (as a TV reporter) and Jean Reno (as the president of Sabena) give the film some international appeal.
It is harrowing to remember that such genocide and subsequent refugee movement could happen in the 1990s.
1. Audience knowledge of the events of 1994 in Rwanda? The atmosphere of the 1990s? Memories? The genocide, the presence of the United Nations force, the lack of intervention from other countries? The aftermath?
2. Western version of the events, for Western audiences? The response of Rwandans? An emotional film, for understanding, the horrors of the events? Western feelings of guilt about lack of intervention?
3. The period, the setting, Kigali, the hotel, homes, the world of the affluent, the world of the ordinary, of Rwandans in the villages?
4. The hotel, the streets, the country roads? The military presence? The mobs with machetes, their massacres? The visuals? The background score?
5. Audiences understanding of the Hutus, the Tutsis? The past history, the dominance of the Tutsis, the resentment of the Hutus? The uprising, the President, his death? The use of the radio, the propaganda speeches, the encouragement to kill, calling the Tutsis cockroaches? The influence and response?
6. The UN presence, insufficient, the dangers, the rescues, the leader and his discussions with Paul, taking the foreign visitors away? His regrets?
7. The hotel, Mille Colines, its status? Foreign ownership? Foreign management and expectations and standards? The range of guests? International? The staff, the style of the hotel?
8. The hotel, the experience of the uprising, the occupation by the military, the need for food, going to depots for stores? The military and their wanting alcohol? The use of alcohol and stores as bribes? The staff, military support? The safety for the Hutus? The UN and the evacuation? The rooms?
9. Paul, his family, his wife as Tutsi? Their children? The extended family? Their being under threat, the wife being strong? The attack, the military, Paul and his continually offering bribes, money, gifts? Putting his family in the hotel rooms? Going to the roof for safety?
10. The UN commander, his dilemmas, his helping, his being embarrassed, the rescues?
11. The media, Jack and David, in the hotel, the comfort, the women, their stories? Jack going out, getting the footage, seeing the cruelty, sending it to
America, the networks, the screening? Impact on not? Their not wanting to leave, having to leave?
12. The ousting of the Tutsis, the occupation of the hotel, the insolent staff member and his being forced to work? The role of the staff, Paul’s speech to them, urging them to cooperate? His going for the food, going to the depot, the deals, the threats – and the organiser being a Hutu leader for the massacres?
13. The effect of the attacks, the machetes, the mobs, the people lying dead on the roads, taking refuge in houses, the church, in schools? The continued radio propaganda?
14. The military leaders, in the hotel, Paul persuading them to consider their reputation and blame later? The good effect?
15. The offices of the hotel company in Belgium, the response of the Europeans? Belgium and the shock? The phone calls, the companies, their reputation, wanting to keep the hotel open, contact with governments, with the French, getting some help, insufficient? Paul and his pleading with the officials, the prospect of his being killed?
16. Paul, keeping the hotel going, getting his family out, in the trucks, his not going, his wife’s endearment reaction? The attack on the road, the killings in the truck, the return to the hotel? The aid worker and teacher, Paul persuading her to go to the village, finding the children but not the parents, bringing them to safety? Surviving?
17. The experience of anguish, of brutal deaths, of the reality genocide? The shock for the world in the 1990s? The Africa, United Nations, and the role of the world powers, their discussions in Congress and the United Nations? The aftermath for Rwanda, the court cases, the imprisonments, the extent of Hutu involvement – and the need for reconciliation?
