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Hotel Rwanda is a 2004 biographical and historical 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.
PlotSpoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Paul Rusesabagina (Don Cheadle) and his wife, Tatiana (Sophie Okonedo) make a good living in Rwanda with their four children, as Paul is hotel manager of the Belgian resort, the Hotel des Mille Collines - perhaps the most extravagant hotel in the country. As Paul continues his daily job of gladhanding high-ranking Rwandan officials and foreign visitors, he starts to become aware of a dangerous tension brewing in the city. Early in the film Paul goes to visit George Rutaganda, deputy leader of the Hutu extremist Interahamwe militia, who encourages him to join the Interahamwe. Paul, a moderate Hutu, refuses. Paul begins to realize that something terrible is about to happen in the country, but his fears are eased because the United Nations and foreign press are in the city to cover the president signing a historic peace agreement. Paul and the others at the hotel are informed that the president was killed when his plane was shot down, presumably by the Tutsi RPF rebels. Massive Hutu riots begin, as tens of thousands of Tutsis across the city and country are slaughtered by the Interahamwe, who are backed by the (predominantly Hutu) national army. Paul immediately looks after his family only, and hopes the uprising will be quashed because of the U.N. presence in the country, coupled with journalists openly documenting the slaughter. (One such journalist in the country is played by actor Joaquin Phoenix.) As conditions worsen, Paul starts to locate his friends and relatives, many of them (including his wife) are Tutsi, in an attempt to transport them to the hotel, as it is under the protection of U.N. soldiers, led by Colonel Oliver (Nick Nolte). Paul manages to bribe violent soldiers into letting his friends and family live, and gets them into the hotel. Hundreds more refugees flock to the hotel for safety and the staff becomes overwhelmed with feeding and helping all the children and injured. Ten Belgian U.N. soldiers are murdered while protecting Tutsi Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana, who was also killed.
RTLM radio urges Hutus to storm the hotel and kill Paul as well as all the Tutsi "cockroaches". Paul, in a desperate attempt, manages to convince his contact in the Hutu army, General Augustin Bizimungu, that he will be charged with war crimes unless he comes to the hotel and stops the Interahamwe from slaughtering refugees. Bizimungu attempts to convince Paul to retreat with him and the army to Gitarama, to escape the RPF rebel advance on Kigali, but eventually agrees with Paul. The plan works, and the refugees are saved. A large convoy of U.N. trucks finally arrives to save everyone, traveling away from the hotel. The convoy passes thousands of fleeing Hutus, attempting to escape from the RPF. The convoy is rescued from an Interhamwe attack by a RPF ambush and is able to reach the refugee camp. At the camp, Paul and Tatiana find their two missing nieces among other lost children, and celebrate their survival and reunion. The ending titles reveal that Paul managed to save 1,268 refugees and that the RPF invasion and the Hutu army/Interahamwe retreated into Zaire. It also explains that Rutaganda and General Bizimungu were tried from crimes against humanity, but also reveals that almost 1,000,000 Rwandans lost their lives in the genocide. Historical accuracyThe film appears to contain some historical inaccuracies:
ResponsesThe film has received a great deal of critical acclaim, with a 90% 'fresh' rating on RottenTomatoes.[1] As of March 2007, the film is ranked #62 in The Internet Movie Database's ranking of the top 250 films. In the United States, 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. Hotel Rwanda was 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. According to the December 3, 2006 edition of 60 Minutes, Hotel Rwanda is the fifth most-rented movie on Netflix due to its acclaimed recommendations system. Awards/Nominations
Cast
TriviaThe Land Rover Defender vehicles used by the UN Pakistani 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. Rwandans drive on the right side of the road, so the use of right-hand drive cars is incorrect for standard vehicles. 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. On a magazine rack in the lobby of the hotel, there is a copy of Time magazine's 1992 Man of the Year with Bill Clinton on its cover. Similar filmsSee also
Notes
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