Hotel Rwanda
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Hotel Rwanda is a 2004 drama film about the Rwandan Genocide, directed by Irish filmmaker Terry George. It is a co-production between Canadian, British, Italian, and South African companies, and the first ever co-production between the rival independent film studios Lions Gate Films and United Artists. It was filmed mostly in South Africa, with some second unit filming in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.
The movie is based on the true events that took place during the genocidal violence that erupted in Rwanda between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups in 1994. The central character is Paul Rusesabagina (Don Cheadle), a Hutu who managed the four-star Sabena-owned Hôtel des Mille Collines in Kigali.
Plot
When the genocide begins, at first Rusesabagina thinks only of saving his immediate family, but as he realises the enormity of what is happening, he opens the hotel to both Tutsi and Hutu refugees. Using the favors he had built up as manager of the hotel, he manages to save the lives of 1,268 refugees. The movie ends with Rusesabagina's family and the hotel evacuees crossing the Tutsi rebel line and arriving at a refugee camp, from which they depart for Tanzania. In addition to telling the story of one man's heroic actions, the movie also harshly condemns the international response (or lack thereof) to the genocide. The movie alleges that neither the U.N. nor the U.S. (which was still reeling at the time from the debacle in Somalia) acted decisively to intervene. Hutu extremists managed to kill approximately 800,000 people in about 100 days, before they were ousted by Tutsi rebels. At the end of the film, onscreen text suggests that some of the Hutu generals and other leaders of the genocide were punished for their crimes.Historical accuracy
In the film, Tatiana Rusesabagina is portrayed as angry when Paul puts her and her children on a truck to escape the hotel. In reality, she was sad but accepted the necessity. [[Citing sources citation needed]]The character of Colonel Oliver (Nick Nolte) is a fictionalized synthesis of Canadian Lt-Gen. Roméo Dallaire, Force Commander of UNAMIR, the ill-fated United Nations peacekeeping force in Rwanda, along with several other Canadian commanders. Some have complained that Dallaire is not given due credit for his role in trying to stop the violence.
Also, the Congo is called exactly that, instead of Zaire (which was its name at the time).
Responses
The film has received a great deal of critical acclaim, with a 90% 'fresh' rating on RottenTomatoes. As of June 2006, the film is ranked #50 in The Internet Movie Database's ranking of the top 250 films. The film was originally rated R, but is one of the few films that appealed and won its appeal. It was re-rated PG-13 for violence, disturbing images and brief strong language. Nominated for three Academy Awards including Best Actor for Don Cheadle, Best Supporting Actress for Sophie Okonedo, and Best Original Screenplay for Keir Pearson and Terry George.The American Film Institute ranked Hotel Rwanda as #90 on its list of the 100 most inspirational movies of all time. Film critic Richard Roeper said that it was one of the most inspirational films that he had ever seen and named the film the best of 2004.
Main cast
- Don Cheadle as Paul Rusesabagina
- Sophie Okonedo as Tatiana Rusesabagina
- Nick Nolte as Colonel Oliver
- Fana Mokoena as General Augustin Bizimungu
- Joaquin Phoenix as Jack
Trivia
The Land Rover Defender vehicles used by the UN peacekeepers in the movie are new Td5 models. These differ from 1994-era vehicles in several ways including having styled alloy rims instead of plain steel. The green Defender used by the Hutus is UK-military spec, probably an 1980s era ex-MoD surplus. The peacekeepers' trucks are South African-made SAMILs.Because Hotel Rwanda was filmed mostly in South Africa, where road traffic drives on the left-hand side of the road, many of the vehicles are right-hand drive. Rwanda drives on the right, so the use of right-hand drive cars is incorrect. The mistake is most obvious in the scenes involving buses, which have passenger doors on the left -- in Rwanda people using those buses would be stepping out into the middle of the road. However, some vehicles in Rwanda are right-hand drive.
See also
External links
- [Official site]
- [Filming the Unfilmable - The challenge of the genocide movie]
- [Hotel Rwanda] at the [Arts & Faith Top100 Spiritually Significant Films] list
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