Hotel Rwanda (2004)

Premise: Paul Rusesabagina (Don Cheadle) is the house manager at the Hotel des Milles Collines in Kigali in 1994. His wife, Tatiania (Sophie Okonedo), is Tutsi, while Paul is Hutu. After the assassination of the Hutu Prime Minister, the Hutus begin a massacre of the Tutsis, whom they believe is responsible. Paul transforms the Milles Collines into a refugee camp, using whatever political savvy he has to protect as many as he can while clinging to the hope that the UN, represented by American Colonel Oliver (Nick Nolte), will rescue them.

Yet another example of how everything can come together so perfectly in one film.

Cheadle gave one of the most reserved and understated performances I have seen in a long time. It wasn't even a performance. He simply was. Paul had only low level politico skills to defend himself and his loved ones, and his struggle to keep everyone alive in such extraordinary circumstances was nothing short of heartbreaking.

Okonedo provided a perfect balance to Paul, and she too seemed as though she wasn't performing at all. Everything that Tatiania did and said seemed so natural, so real.

Apparently Nick Nolte's character is only loosely based on Roméo Dallaire, and he really did care, so I'll not be upset over this one. I just don't like Nolte, though. He kind of gives me the creeps.

Oh, alright, I'll say it: Joaquin Phoenix sports a wicked beard and makes an excellent point.

Congratulations to Terry George! He helmed and co-wrote this project with brilliant simplicity. There were only a few parts of the film where I felt I was watching (I'm gonna say it) a genocide movie. Other than that, the bare bones story was told with more heart than most things I've see all year.

As much as I'm a crier in movies, I could barely cry in this one. My chin did that shakey thing that it sometimes does, and I mostly felt like I was doing the very wrong thing by crying. I felt like the Rwandans didn't want or need my tears. They needed my help, all of our help, and we completely ignored them.

You could argue that I was ten and probably couldn't have done that much personally, but I wouldn't let you get that far. We're letting the same thing happen all over again in the Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Why won't we stop it this time, knowing what we know now?

Why such a outpouring of love and aid for tsunami victims? Sure, they need our help, and it's great that we give it. But why are we willing to let so many other people die?

I was at a lunch a few weeks back where this question came up. The only answer I could come up with was culpability. Tsunamis are no one's fault. Genocides are. It's a simple as that. You think we'd like fighting an enemy we could see and maybe even beat after all this time, but I guess not.

Are we too afraid?

For this opus: A+. Humanity might be getting a failing grade, though.

On a more light hearted note: April got 4/5 last night! Or 5/6, depending on how you look at it. Probably beginner's luck.