Movie Review : Hotel Rwanda

The 2004 film, Hotel Rwanda, directed by Terry George, highlights the brutality of the Rwandan Genocide between the Hutu and the Tutsi peoples. The results of the conflict were the death of almost one million Rwandan citizens, mostly Tutsi. Initially, the conflict arose when Belgium internationals came into Rwanda and gave power to the Tutsi, who were lighter skinned and taller, which led to extremist Hutu groups to arise in response to this unfairness. Ultimately, this uprising and forming of the two distinct groups was heavily influenced by propaganda, political corruption, and groupthink, and all of which essentially resulted in the huge tragedy.

Hotel Rwanda is a film directed by Derek George that tackles one of the most shockingly disturbing events in recent history, when the Hutu radicals of Rwanda initiated a frightening crusade of genocide, slaughtering thousands of minority Tutsis while people from other countries did nothing and acted oblivious to what was going on in Rwanda. George vividly adapted Hotel Rwanda in a way that the viewer from beginning to end saw the effects of genocide, political corruption, and the consequences of violence. Depicted in the early 1990s , the views on ethnic conflict in Rwanda and the sequence of events is really descriptive and sometimes hard to watch as George digs deep into what happened in Rwanda. The early scenes in town set the scene amazingly for what’s to come throughout the film and gives us vivid insight on the views and social standing of Rwanda in the 1990’s. Don Cheadle portrays Paul Rusesabagina in the movie playing the hotel manager, his wife in the movie played by Sophie Okonedo is a Tutsi and wants to help when the violence ensues. Their marriage throughout the movie supplies a great sub plot detailing how a relationship can stand through turmoil.

I usually dislike historical movies because I simply do not understand some of them very well to have a clear opinion of what happened in a certain place, or I find them quite boring to watch. However, since I know about what happened in the Rwandan genocide, I found this movie interesting and have a lot of opinions to share or analyze. I think the film displays the brutality that is in some people’s hearts perfectly. I also think I can relate the history of the genocide to current situations around the world like in Syria, or Yemen. These two countries do not have the same history as the Rwandan genocide, however the fact that there are many fundamentalists involved in the killing of numerous people in the three countries relates them ideally. Therefore, I enjoyed watching “Shake Hands with the Devil’, because of the relation it had to current events happening in the

As a Hutu, Paul is expected to despise the Tutsi’s and to be a part of the violence and

In Hotel Rwanda there are two sides to the community. The Tutsi and the Hutu, a division made by Belgian colonizers. Apparently the lighter and taller Rwandans were treated better in the duration of the Belgians visit, these were the Tutsi. But after leaving, this conflict continued on for the rest 20th century and well into the 21st. But to some, the division is pointless, given that they were and will always will

Hotel Rwanda tackles a recent event in history where the Hutu extremists of Rwanda initiated a terrifying campaign of genocide, massacring approximately

The continent of Africa has been continually engaged in civil, tribal and cross national conflicts from colonial independence up until present day. What historians regard as the most ‘efficient genocide’ in history, occurred in a mere 100 days in the small central African country of Rwanda. The Hutus and the Tutsis, two ethnic groups within Rwanda, have been at continual unrest for the past half a century. During the 100 day massacre of 1994, a murder occurred every two seconds; resulting in 18% of the Tutsi population being killed. A decade after the war, in 2004, the film Hotel Rwanda was released. The film followed the story of a Hutu man; Paul Rusesabagina as he housed over 1200 Tutsi refugees in his hotel. The Hotel De Milles

Maria Kizito and Hotel Rwanda are true accounts of two isolated events that took place in Rwanda during a genocide in 1994 where nearly one million innocent people lost their lives. Maria Kizito is a play that focuses mainly on the trial of a catholic nun, Maria Kizito, who was charged and found guilty of promoting and facilitating the murder of seven thousand refugees who sought shelter from Hutu extremist at a local convent (Kizito 178). Whereas Hotel Rwanda focuses on the life of Paul Rusesabagina, a Rwandan manager, and Hutu, at a Belgian-owned luxury hotel in Rwanda 's capital, who saved not only himself and his family but also 1,268 refugees from the same extremist. Despite their differences in location and characters, the play and the film, both develop narratives that tell the same story about how the genocide in Rwanda is a direct result of colonization, how the international community failed to intervene, and that a plane crash ignited in what was the worst genocide after the holocaust. Before analyzing how Maria Kizito and Hotel Rwanda depict Colonialism, it is important to first understand the history of Colonialism in Rwanda.

According to the book Peacemaking in Rwanda, Hutus and Tutsis had prior hate towards one another due to “wealth, military prowess, family, and control over a precious commodity, or occupation of a prestigious social position.” (Jones, pg. 18) This meant at any time my children that Tutsis could become Hutus and Hutus could become Tutsis. Due to this my children, I come before to tell you never to hate your very own people. Clan lineage in Rwanda was were, power and status placed a role in the leading of the people as that determined who was a high authority amongst the different yet similar clans. While clan lineage played a role in who would lead the different clans, Rwanda before World War I was colonized by Germans. Sadly my kids, after World War I colonization moved on to the Belgium and this is was the day, when I saw my life flash before my eyes. The once peaceful Rwanda had changed within a day. When the Belgium came into power they “imposed on the contrary an intellectual and administrative simplification that equated “Tutsi’s” with “ruling class”.”(Jones, pg. 19) Throughout the Belgium ruling, Tutsis were the chosen ones to do all of the administrative work for the League of Nations Mandate. Due to this Belgium’s required for Tutsis to carry around cards that specifically showed and

On the lines of many movies subjected on ethnic discrimination and massacre, Hotel Rwanda focuses on Paul Rusesabagina and his family in Rwanda during the genocide of the Tutsis by the ruling Hutu tribe in 1994. The movie incorporates many aspects its subject in a thrilling and sentimental fashion. New York Times critic Stephan Holding’s problem is that the portrayal of violence and sentiments are not accurate. Considering the fact that this movie is meant cover a wide range of audience and its subject, the proportions of violence and sentiment are not balanced for the purpose of creating the most impact and arouse its viewers to the

In summary, Hotel Rwanda is about the mass genocide of the Tutsi ethnic group in Rwanda during the mid-90’s. It is estimated that nearly one million people were killed in the efforts of the Hutu people to completely eliminate the Tutsi population. The tension began because of the Belgium government colonizing Rwanda, and them putting the Tutsi people originally in charge. Later on the Hutu people took control of the government and were getting back at the Tutsis for the years of oppression. With rising tension, the Rwandan president, who was a Hutu, was going to sign a peace treaty to allow the two groups to live in harmony. However, he was assassinated by a “Tutsi rebel” which caused mass chaos, resulting in this mass genocide. A hotel, managed by Paul, who had great authority with the United Nations and the Rwandan Army, was able to protect 1,100 moderate Hutus and Tutsis from being killed by the Hutu rebels. Multiple times throughout the film the forces broken into the hotel complex and greatly threatened the life of the refugees. With the protection from the UN and bribery, Paul was able to protect the refugees and get the them to safely in Tanzania.

In the movie Ghosts of Rwanda the Tutsi who are the weak in the society. They are always hunted by Hutu extremists. The reason is that the Hutu want to control of Rwanda. In this movie we can be seen how the Hutus are the shadow of the evil and Tutsi are always the victim of them. One of reasons why the Hutu hunt the Tutsi is basically for ideologies. This making a country under the rule of the Hutu extremists .Therefore the Tutsis do not have any choice that is be part of the Hutu and kill others or wait for their deaths.

A group of Rwandan people known as the Hutu want to eliminate another Rwandan group, the Tutsi, and they get very close to succeeding. About one million Tutsi people were murdered in the Rwandan Genocide in a time span of 100 days. Hotel Rwanda is a movie about a hotel manger, Paul, that saves a thousand Tutsi people by keeping them in his hotel. He saves the refugees, mostly, by giving the Hutu rebels his money and alcohol in return for leaving the Tutsi people alone. The movie is trying to send the message that helping others is equally important as helping one’s family.

Soon after, most of the white people that can legally leave Rwanda are forced to leave. Rwanda is being ignored by the rest of the world, and they are not receiving much help. The hotel has become a large refugee camp, and more people seem to keep coming. The hotel is almost overflowing with refugees. The supplies at the hotel are being used up very fast, so Paul and Gregoire, an employee at the hotel, leave to go get more food and other supplies needed. They go to George Rutagando and he tells them that soon all of the Tutsis will be dead. He sends them on a different road, and they drive into thick fog. The road starts to get very bumpy, and Paul tells Gregoire that they will drive into the river. Paul gets out of the car, and he sees hundreds of dead bodies lying on the road. Paul realizes that George sent them on that road purposely, and tells Gregoire that he must not say a word about what they saw.

When studying international relations there are six main theories to look at: realism, liberalism, Marxism, social constructivism, poststructuralism, and postcolonialism. These six theories take different approaches to explain various regimes, actions, and events that have occurred around the world throughout time. Not only do these six theories vary by regimes, but also by individuals. For instance, looking at the Rwandan genocide of 1994, it can be argued that the overarching theory to explain it is realism, but notions of liberalism, constructivism, and postcolonialism can also be seen from individuals experiencing it. These four theories are represented in the movie, “Hotel Rwanda.” “Hotel Rwanda” is based off of a true story of a man named Paul Rusesbagina and the hotel he manages, Hotel de Mille Collines. Although not everything depicted in the movie is a real-life event, one is still able to understand how world views can differ from person to person depending on what they were going through during that time. Concepts presented in the movie are concepts that tried to stick to the real events as much as they could. The movie clearly distinguishes the feud between the Tutsi tribe and the Hutu tribe within Kigali. Furthermore, characters Paul Rusebagina, Colonel Oliver, Georges Rutaganda, depict motivating world views. When viewing these three characters and Kigali as a whole, it is evident that not everyone experiencing the same event will view it in the same way.