This is from my own archives, posted on the GlobalEar site, now alas defunct, on March 28, 2005.
Hotel Rwanda has the same kind of aura as `Gandhi` and `Cry Freedom` and `Schindler`s List`. It is of course about recent history - a bloody and gruesome massacre of innocents that happened in our own time - and about the part that one particular individual played in saving the lives of hundreds of people caught up in it. In this case, we are also drawn into his personal life in a most empathetic way.
I was also immediately reminded of `A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali` (ISBN 1 84195 453 5 - by Gil Courtemanche - Translated from the original French by Patricial Claxton). That was a fictionalized account of the Rwanda atrocities, with graphic details of the build-up to the genocide and the attendant horrors that took place then, but there too we had a glimpse of the eponymous hotel of the film - the Hotel des Mille Collines - and of its true-life manager, Paul Ruseabagina (here played superlatively by Don Cheadle). There are also references to him and the hotel in George Alagiah`s book `A Passage to Africa` and Aidan Hartley`s `The Zanzibar Chest`, and in Jon Snow`s `Shooting History`. These hardened global journalists too were deeply affected by what they had seen. The sequences in the film of the fleeing refugees, of the soliders and others beating up and slaughtering civilians, of the army officers and generals demanding payment for lives to be spared, of the helpless captives being tossed about here and there and of the few sheltering in the nooks and corners of the hotel - these are vivid and haunting images but they are not, alas, unique, because in all similar situations - of revolutionary turmoil, of civil-war in-fighting, of persecution of minorities etc - those in power or wielding the upper hand are prone to inflict pain and suffering of the most inhuman kind upon their victims.
There have been countless other movies depicting these kinds of horrors (in Cambodia, Congo, India/ Pakistan and so on). In `Shindler` List`, there was a large dose of menace and sanitized, almost clinical, surrealism about the plight of the thousandsdespatched to the gas chambers; in `Cry Freedom` there were the marching multitudes with the hovering presence of the security forces in military gear ready to pounce on them and in `Gandhi` the episodes of the butchery inflicted by both Muslim and HIndu religious zealots were graphically captured. In all these films, as in this one, there was a note of optimism at the end nevertheless, because ultimately humanity triumphed, even if, as in at least two of them, the individual at the centre of them did perish. The common factor between them of course is the singular character whose life sustains the plot and gives it a sense of spiritual salvation.
But to get back to our hero, Paul, but for him the film would have failed to make the impact that it has. He is an urbane and educated Hutuu, happily married to an equally charming, serene and rather pretty Tutsi and they lead a happy family life with their three bright children as part of the Westernized Rwandan middle-class elite. That much is as much implied as visually spelt out, for right from the beginning we are drawn into the gathering storm with a rapidity that leaves little room for social or political nuances, except for the one overwhelming message that the film is about, ie. how the majority Hutuus turned on their hapless Tutsi minority in a `moment of madness` bent on wiping them out.
Throughout, the centrality of the hotel as the threatre of action is never in doubt, for we are in and out of it as Paul tries to keep it going on an even keel against all the pressures. From the outside entrance through the reception area to the rear of the hotel, where there is partaking of food and drink around the pool on the terrace by the expatriate whites (the press and the UN staff) and the locals (the prostitutes, the parasites and the paramilitary personnel), we are in no doubt about its status, not so much as an oasis of wealth and splendour but rather as a haven of security amidst the chaos of the world outside. Against this background, Paul has to use all his innate qualities of patience and negotiation, even guile, forever stretching his resources and pushing against the boundaries of tolerance and understanding, in order to secure safe passage, conduct, sanctuary or simple survival for all those hundreds of people for whom he had either assumed or been forced to accept responsiblity. He talks to his bosses in Belgium, pleads with men in uniform, cajoles and compromises with his own staff, plays the family man - even the romantic husband with his wife (the few stolen scenes of tenderness between them are touching) - while all the time the tragedy is unfolding and engulfing everyone around him. We fear for his life (because there are some very close nasty encounters) and pray that he will overcome the enormous odds and the mishaps that would have deterred a lesser man.
So undoubtedly here is a film with magnetic Oscar proportions. Paul`s wife is played, equally impressively, by the black British actress Sophie Okonedo. They both deserve a medal. The credits at the end do not point to any particular literary source, but the reference to Paul as a real life figure gives a poignant and compelling edge to the saga of the Rwandan killings. How else could an African tragedy, even on the scale of other 20th century global parallels, appeal to mass audiences in the West?
There are at least two other offerings currently on view (or shortly to be) on the same subject. One is `Sometimes in April` by the renowned Haitian born director Raoul Peck, and the other Michael Canton-Jones` `Shooting Dogs`. There has been a lot of media coverage (features, interviews and guest appearances) accompanying or preceding them and the sense that we get is that the time has come for an artistic appreciation of the tragedy of Rwanda.
What should the world`s reaction be? Well, while we are constantly urged to`learn from history`, cynics among us are forever reminding us that rhetoric and reality do not always match. I well remember expressing my own misgivings to someone about the failure of the international community to do anything at the time (in 1994) against the background of the Bosnian conflict that was then raging and making the point that perhaps we were far too concerned about the latter because it was on our door-step in Europe. But that said, let us just think: how much do we know of, much less care about, what may be happening at any given time in some obscure corner of the world that is beyond our vision or sphere of concern? Of course, by `we` I mean society in general, not particular individuals. From time to time, the barrier of unconsciousness in broken and people may stand up and protest - but to what avail? But more often than not, while history is taking place, we are often unaware either of its happening or of its significance, or too preoccupied with other more mundane or immediate matters, to take notice. Time is what we need to absorb the `lessons of history` but by then it is too late to apply them! But the human spirit cannot surely be daunted; the optimist in us will always want to leave a record of our struggle,so that future generations may do better, and that is what this film is about.
This film should indeed be seen by everyone.
Posted By Ramnik on 03/28/2005 Movies
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