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jim [ 9.0 ]
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Here's your chance to see the why, more than a decade after the fact, Bill Clinton is still apologizing for ignoring the Rwandan genocide of 1994.
In the Oscar derby, Don Cheadle and Sophie Okonedo were most deserving of their nominations. It's puzzling why this wasn't a finalist for best picture of 2004--for my money, it's a better movie than Million Dollar Baby. (But then, so were Sideways and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.)
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jeff_v [ 8.0 ]
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For what it is, Hotel Rwanda is a huge success. Director Terry George puts himself at the service of the story of Paul Rusesabagina, the hotel manager whose courage and quick thinking saved the lives of over 1,200 people. You couldn't ask for a better telling of this story. It conveys Paul's naive optimism which plunges into horror and panic, as well as his mounting frustration and anger. You really get a feel for Paul's heartbreak and (eventually) his... well, what is the word for escaping certain death and reuniting with relatives you assumed were dead, all the while possessing the crippling knowledge that hundreds of thousands of human beings were slaughtered, including other members of your family? I can tell you one word it isn't: feel-good.
Yet, amazingly, some critics have called this an inspirational, feel-good story of triumph over adversity. They question whether the focus on one man's incredible experience soft-shoes the atrocity and leaves audiences complacent. It seems to me that these critics have a low opinion of movie-goers. Who could see this film and regard it as a thrill-ride, or chicken soup for the guilty Western soul? That would mean ignoring 99.9% of the film, as if the freeze-frame that concludes the movie wiped away the butchery (both seen and unseen) that pervades the movie. What those critics wanted, apparently, was a documentary, not a fictionalized account that would be relatable to Western audiences and would shame them. It's true that Hotel Rwanda simplifies the causes of the genocide, and doesn't provide much context beyond the events surrounding the hotel. But those are issues for another movie. This movie isn't called The Rwandan Genocide and the West's Spineless Non-Response to It. It's called Hotel Rwanda because it's about Paul Rusesabagina and the events at the hotel he managed during the genocide. To dismiss the film out-of-hand for relating this specific story is unfair.
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Dancing_P [ 7.0 ]
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Suffers from Dry, White Season Syndrome. That is, it's been made by a lot of Westerners who feel that they must make a movie to inform people about atrocities audiences couldn't give a shit about otherwise. It's an important topic and a necessary film; it knows this, and milks it to the bone. Everyone gets their little speech in which they decry the horrors and really drive the point home. This would be necessary if the film wasn't so damn affecting. Sure, it's got its grandstanding soapbox moments but it's also got a lot truly heartfelt, poignant scenes and solid performances. It's too didactic for its own good, but for once, it teaches something worth learning about.
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kcremer [ 8.0 ]
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A disturbing and depressing movie. Wish I could give it a higher rating but I just can't see myself voluntarily watching this again. This isn't the kind of movie you watch for fun. Don Cheadle is very good in this though.
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| Weighted Rating | : 7.8 |
| No. Ratings | : 11 | |
| No. Reviews | : 6 | |
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