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Pugnate · 01-27-2005, 05:10 AM

Hotel Rwanda

Score: 3/4 stars.

Hotel Rwanda is a very good and highly recommended film that shines through a brilliant performance from Don Cheadle. Cheadle plays Paul Rusesabagina, the clever Hutu manager of a hotel that performs in the midst of a crisis driven country, suffering because of genocide. He plays a character who reminds me much of my father. Like my father, Paul is a good family man, who takes decisions that may appear cruel and unusual in the short term, but prove to be crucial in the longer term.

His wife Tatiana (Sophie Okonedo) is of the race that is being persecuted, and actress Sophie Okonedo is superb in her role.

The storyline sees the persecution of the Tutsi, and is a true story based on the heroics of a hotel manager who saved nearly 1,200 people by being an excellent administrator in a crisis. The emotional content is heavy, and the acting is pretty good, making some scenes quite heavy to watch.

However I don’t think Terry George was the right man for the job. Although he has made a pretty good picture, a couple of times there are plot pieces that seem artificially constructed, which is a total disservice to the film.

Minor Spoilers:

There is a scene in the movie where Paul is in a jeep and can’t see because of the fog. The director wants us to believe that a fog in Africa is so thick that Paul is unable to realize that he isn’t riding on rocks, but is actually on a sea of corpses. Paul has the jeep stopped and literally falls on a child’s corpse and is overcome.

Later he is in the washroom changing his shirt and is overcome with grief because of what he saw earlier. To make sure that we know what Paul is grieving about, the director cues in the same music that we heard when Paul ‘suddenly’ hit the corpses.

He begins to cry – which is honest – but when an employee tries to open the door, Paul becomes hysterical when asking the employee to keep the door closed. Through out the movie, Paul has always kept his emotions intact when dealing with staff. It is the administrator’s bones in his body, but during the scene Cheadle behaves not how Paul would, but how an actor would.

The scenario with the corpses has affected him to the point where he asks his wife to commit suicide by jumping off the roof incase the army ever comes to kill her. This is a tired plot element used in so many other pictures, and again used in this movie, for suspense and humor, rather than driving the story.

His wife, Tatiana, has discovered that her brother is dead but his two children are alive, though trapped inside the worst hit areas of the city. Tatiana mentions rescuing the children often through out the movie, but we realize that this is another plot cliché. Often in movies such as this, directors struggle to find ways to finish the picture. They often end the movie with a scene of unity in order to give a satisfactory ending. Sadly this movie isn’t any different.

I think the most creative way I have seen a factual movie end was during Spike Lee’s masterpiece, Malcolm X. The end has a special appearance by Nelson Mandela, and provides a strong ending.

I am not saying that Hotel Rwanda needed to pull a rabbit out of a hat, to make a convincing ending. Admittedly, the genre often finds endings difficult, but this one is too much of a cliché. And even though we learn through the credits, that the real manager escaped to Belgium along with his family and the two rescued children, one feels that their ruination was highly exaggerated to strike a strong emotional chord.

The subject matter of the film is already powerful enough, without the director juicing it up further. But as I said earlier, this is an actor’s film, and a picture with a strong story to tell. It is a good movie, and definitely worth the watch. Has some of the best performances this year, enough to give it an oscar buzz.

01-27-2005, 05:10 AM	#1 (permalink)
Pugnate Upright	Hotel Rwanda Hotel Rwanda Score: 3/4 stars. Hotel Rwanda is a very good and highly recommended film that shines through a brilliant performance from Don Cheadle. Cheadle plays Paul Rusesabagina, the clever Hutu manager of a hotel that performs in the midst of a crisis driven country, suffering because of genocide. He plays a character who reminds me much of my father. Like my father, Paul is a good family man, who takes decisions that may appear cruel and unusual in the short term, but prove to be crucial in the longer term. His wife Tatiana (Sophie Okonedo) is of the race that is being persecuted, and actress Sophie Okonedo is superb in her role. The storyline sees the persecution of the Tutsi, and is a true story based on the heroics of a hotel manager who saved nearly 1,200 people by being an excellent administrator in a crisis. The emotional content is heavy, and the acting is pretty good, making some scenes quite heavy to watch. However I don’t think Terry George was the right man for the job. Although he has made a pretty good picture, a couple of times there are plot pieces that seem artificially constructed, which is a total disservice to the film. Minor Spoilers: There is a scene in the movie where Paul is in a jeep and can’t see because of the fog. The director wants us to believe that a fog in Africa is so thick that Paul is unable to realize that he isn’t riding on rocks, but is actually on a sea of corpses. Paul has the jeep stopped and literally falls on a child’s corpse and is overcome. Later he is in the washroom changing his shirt and is overcome with grief because of what he saw earlier. To make sure that we know what Paul is grieving about, the director cues in the same music that we heard when Paul ‘suddenly’ hit the corpses. He begins to cry – which is honest – but when an employee tries to open the door, Paul becomes hysterical when asking the employee to keep the door closed. Through out the movie, Paul has always kept his emotions intact when dealing with staff. It is the administrator’s bones in his body, but during the scene Cheadle behaves not how Paul would, but how an actor would. The scenario with the corpses has affected him to the point where he asks his wife to commit suicide by jumping off the roof incase the army ever comes to kill her. This is a tired plot element used in so many other pictures, and again used in this movie, for suspense and humor, rather than driving the story. His wife, Tatiana, has discovered that her brother is dead but his two children are alive, though trapped inside the worst hit areas of the city. Tatiana mentions rescuing the children often through out the movie, but we realize that this is another plot cliché. Often in movies such as this, directors struggle to find ways to finish the picture. They often end the movie with a scene of unity in order to give a satisfactory ending. Sadly this movie isn’t any different. I think the most creative way I have seen a factual movie end was during Spike Lee’s masterpiece, Malcolm X. The end has a special appearance by Nelson Mandela, and provides a strong ending. I am not saying that Hotel Rwanda needed to pull a rabbit out of a hat, to make a convincing ending. Admittedly, the genre often finds endings difficult, but this one is too much of a cliché. And even though we learn through the credits, that the real manager escaped to Belgium along with his family and the two rescued children, one feels that their ruination was highly exaggerated to strike a strong emotional chord. The subject matter of the film is already powerful enough, without the director juicing it up further. But as I said earlier, this is an actor’s film, and a picture with a strong story to tell. It is a good movie, and definitely worth the watch. Has some of the best performances this year, enough to give it an oscar buzz.