Hotel Rwanda Review
This is easily the best movie that I have seen since City of God (actually since Million Dollar Baby which I saw recently). Similarly to City of God this film is based on a true story. I guess I am a sucker for true stories. In this case it’s not just a story of one man, but of a nation in turmoil. For those who don’t know in 1994 in Rwanda there was a major clash between two ethnic tribes the Hutus and the Tutsis. I won’t get into too many details in case you would rather learn from the film. I would suggest that you watch the film as someone who is educated on the subject. Before watching Hotel Rwanda I suggest that you watch the following PBS Frontline film:
PBS Frontline: Ghosts of Rwanda
There is over an hours worth of video of the show on the site. It’s really worth watching. If you care about the issue even if you don’t watch the film and watch this documentary you would be better off.
I had actually watched this (ghosts of Rwanda) before so I knew a lot about the political issues they tried to cover in the film (Hotel Rwanda). I thought it was excellent how they quoted word for word statements made by U.N. and U.S. officials in Hotel Rwanda. Some of the things coming out of the white house are just horrific to hear. Politically this film has good timing because it coincides with what is going on in Darfur and brings attention to the issue of ethnicly motivated massacres/genocide.
There is a segment on the PBS film called “The Man Everybody Remembers” it’s about a Senegalese (Muslim) U.N. peace officer who helped save an incredible amount of lives. Which is very similar to the main character in the Hotel Rwanda.
There was something that really annoyed me about the film. They show alcohol being consumed and served so many times… I dont know maybe its just because I’m such a Muslim. It was really irritating to see it continuously. It was like a subliminal message to get drunk or something. I wonder if I would be as offended if they kept eating pork.
This might sound really weird. But I think this film could have been a little bit more graphic. I don’t think we can truly ever understand how horrible it is to have half of your neighborhood coming to kill you and your entire family. Actually try to picture that for a moment. Reminds me of what happened in Gujrat. If theres anything we can learn from this situation is that we all have the potential to do spectacular things if God blesses us. But just as their is potential for good to take place anywhere, there is potential for ignorance and mischief to spread. I couldn’t believe how the hutus took over the radio waves.. that is super scary stuff… things like that make you appreciate living in a liberal society in the west where most propoganda is done subliminaly and not overtly.
Also its very very interesting to note that in Rwanda after the genocide took place the number of Rwandans who are Muslims Doubled! Now they are at 14% of the entire population. Muslims helped hide people during the massacres and many Tutsis were killed in churches where they fled for safety. You can read a Washington Post article about that here. One of the segments of the pbs documentary also covers in great detail some massacres which took place at a church.
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