History has shown us that there are no limits to the cruelty of men.
Should we forget, movies like Hotel Rwanda come along to remind us that even in the information age, large-scale crimes like genocide still occur, and they do so while the world's so-called superpowers watch and quibble about the need to intervene.
The movie is set in the African nation of Rwanda, where between the months of April and June 1994, almost a million Rwandans were killed in the space of a hundred days. A country populated by two major ethnic groups-- the Hutus and the Tutsis-- the slaughter was perpetrated by Hutus in response to the assassination of Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana (a Hutu) whose plane was shot down in April 1994. The Hutus-- led by the militia group Interahamwe-- retaliated by killing Tutsis, whom they blamed for Habyarimana's death. In the slaughter that ensued, no one was spared-- men, women, and children were cut down using machetes just for being Tutsi.
Caught in the middle is Paul Rusesabagina (ably played by Don Cheadle, who received an Oscar nomination for his role in the film), a Hutu married to a Tutsi who minds his own business and steers clear of politics whenever able. Paul is shocked out of his apathy by the wanton slaughter of his wife's people and protects them from bloodthirsty Hutus by housing the Tutsis in the four-star hotel he manages.
The movie is not so much entertaining as it is enlightening. How Paul needlessly risks his life to saves the lives of Tutsis is a perfect counterpoint to the inaction of the United Nations and the West. Paul didn't have to help-- he is Hutu. All he had was his network of connections, access to some cash, and an empty hotel-- and he used everything, and then some, to save people he didn't even know. When journalist Jack Daglish (played by Joaquin Phoenix) says "I am so ashamed," just as he steps on the bus that will whisk foreign nationals away from the chaos in Rwanda, he might as well have spoken for the West's leaders.
Must-viewing for heads-of-state, UN officials, and the general public.
Should we forget, movies like Hotel Rwanda come along to remind us that even in the information age, large-scale crimes like genocide still occur, and they do so while the world's so-called superpowers watch and quibble about the need to intervene.
The movie is set in the African nation of Rwanda, where between the months of April and June 1994, almost a million Rwandans were killed in the space of a hundred days. A country populated by two major ethnic groups-- the Hutus and the Tutsis-- the slaughter was perpetrated by Hutus in response to the assassination of Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana (a Hutu) whose plane was shot down in April 1994. The Hutus-- led by the militia group Interahamwe-- retaliated by killing Tutsis, whom they blamed for Habyarimana's death. In the slaughter that ensued, no one was spared-- men, women, and children were cut down using machetes just for being Tutsi.
Caught in the middle is Paul Rusesabagina (ably played by Don Cheadle, who received an Oscar nomination for his role in the film), a Hutu married to a Tutsi who minds his own business and steers clear of politics whenever able. Paul is shocked out of his apathy by the wanton slaughter of his wife's people and protects them from bloodthirsty Hutus by housing the Tutsis in the four-star hotel he manages.
The movie is not so much entertaining as it is enlightening. How Paul needlessly risks his life to saves the lives of Tutsis is a perfect counterpoint to the inaction of the United Nations and the West. Paul didn't have to help-- he is Hutu. All he had was his network of connections, access to some cash, and an empty hotel-- and he used everything, and then some, to save people he didn't even know. When journalist Jack Daglish (played by Joaquin Phoenix) says "I am so ashamed," just as he steps on the bus that will whisk foreign nationals away from the chaos in Rwanda, he might as well have spoken for the West's leaders.
Must-viewing for heads-of-state, UN officials, and the general public.
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