Drama - Director: Terry George - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo, Nick Nolte, Joaquin Phoenix more
Don Cheadle gives a riveting performance as Paul Rusesabagina, the manager of a European-owned hotel in Rwanda, who created a secret refugee camp for the Tutsi people during the... more
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Hotel Rwanda [DVD]
Solidly built around a subtle yet commanding performance by Don Cheadle,Hotel ... more
Rwandaemerged as one of the most highly-praised dramas of 2004. In a role that demands his quietly riveting presence in nearly every scene, Cheadle plays real-life hero Paul ...
Hotel Rwanda [DVD]
Solidly built around a subtle yet commanding performance by Don Cheadle,Hotel ... more
Rwandaemerged as one of the most highly-praised dramas of 2004. In a role that demands his quietly riveting presence in nearly every scene, Cheadle plays real-life hero Paul ...
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Production Year: 1986 - Drama - Director: Martin Scorsese - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Paul Newman, Tom Cruise, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Helen Shaver, John Turturro
Production Year: 2001 - Drama - Director: Brian Henson - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring: Matthew Modine, Vanessa Redgrave, Mia Sara, Daryl Hannah, Jon Voight, Richard Attenborough
A review by DixieChick10 on Hotel Rwanda (DVD) February 9th, 2009
Author's product rating:
Did you enjoy it?
Loved it
Story
Outstanding
Characters / Performances
Outstanding
Special Effects
Outstanding
How does it compare to similar films?
Outstanding
Advantages:
An amazing moving true story
Disadvantages:
Not sure 12 yr olds should be watching it
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Bit of a change to my recent reviews, I decided to start writing my DVD reviews again as I'm getting bored of writing music reviews because they just don't seem to be doing well anymore. Hopefully you enjoy this review, it's on a film that touched me deeply, I really think it's one of those films you must see. Hopefully you like the review, It's longer than a lot of DVD reviews but it's not in the same league as my music reviews, but I hope you really enjoy it. Kirsty
The Plot
The film follows hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina played by Don Cheadle, he is a Hutu and is married to Tatiana, who he loves with all his heart, however she is a Tutsi and the Tutsis or cockroaches as they are called throughout Rwanda. When the Tutsi rebels kill someone high up, the Hutu's begin to kill all Tutsi's in Rwanda, it being one of the largest genocide's in history. Paul to save the life of thousands of Tusi's, houses them within his Milles Collines hotel.
The Cast
Don Cheadle plays Paul Rusesabagina
For me I don't really know much of this actor, I have seen him in a few films of course, but I think his acting in this film is just tremendous. He plays Paul Rusesabagina a Rwandan Hutu, he is well respected through the local community and works as a manager of the Milles Collines hotel. When the Hutu Government decide to rid themselves of all of the Tutsi 'Cockroaches' within Rwanda, hell breaks loose and Paul has to find a way to save his wife a Tutsi and children and many other Tutsi's in Rwanda.
I think his performance really did deserve the Oscar Nomination that he got, I think the reason he and Okonedo did not win was because of the people they were up against, Jamie Foxx's role of Ray was just out of this world as was Cate Blanchet's role in the Avaitor however they were both great roles.
Sophie Okonedo- Tatiana Rusesabagina
I don't know much about this actress, all I knew before this film was that she was nominated for an Oscar for her role as Tatiana so when I came to watching the film, I spent the whole film wondering, when is her moment, when is the moment that she shows off her amazing Oscar worthy talents and I have to say, there was none. Don Cheadle deserved the Oscar, she was good, there is no doubt about it, but it makes me laugh that performances like this which were good but not brilliant win Oscar nominations, but performances like Cate Blanchet in Benjamin Button doesn't receive a nomination.
Her role was good, she plays Paul's Tutsi wife, he is a Hutu, so one of the bad guys in the eyes of the Tutsi's as the Hutu's are ridding Rwanda of all of the Tutsi's. She plays the terrified wife perfectly and her chemistry with Don Cheadle is brilliant.
My Opinion
Hotel Rwanda is a rare kind of film, no one can moan about the length of the film, no one can moan about the story within the film, it is truly one of the best and hardest movies to watch. I recently sat down to watch it on television and I had to watch it in two goes not just because of the fact of the harsh nature o the film but the fact that I was watching it late at night.
It is very hard to describe how powerful this movie actually is, the film is very good at showing the genocide in Rwanda and you have to be able to sit throughout something like that and understand what is going on around you. I do have a problem with the rating on this film, I was shocked to find out that it was only a 12, as the film deals greatly with genocide, I would think that it would be very hard for a 12 year old to sit through, I would even struggle seeing my sister at 14 sitting through this film. The rating is right as there isn't much within the film in the way of violence or swearing so that is why they managed to get by with a 12 rating however the genocide and awfulness of the film makes it hard to watch and I think a twelve year old would find it very uncomfortable.
The film is based on a real life story of Paul and Tatiana Rusesabagina, who saved countless lives in the genocide back in the day, the film is very hard to watch in places and you will find yourself quite uncomfortable however the main thing I think a director should do, is deliver a message and this film does that, the West just sat on by and lived their lives whilst this was going on, a great quote from the film comes from the brief cameo of Joaquin Phoenix and he says about the genocide in Rwanda "If people see this footage, they'll say Oh My God that's horrible and then go on eating their dinners" this adds to the emotion of the film and it is true as this is what happened back then.
The conflict between the Hutu and Tutsis in 1994 is shown brilliantly well within this film, the conflict which resulted in nearly a million people's deaths is shown with so much emotion and so much depth and
Acting
For me the film would not have been as powerful as it was without the actors that became involved with the movie, for me the main man Don Cheadle is the leading star in the movie and he really made the film so powerful and so brilliant. The only other work I know that Cheadle has done is in the Oceans films and I think this topped my opinion of him tenth fold, he really manages to play the role of Paul Rusesabagina brilliantly, especially considering that he is playing a real, still alive man, he is acting the role of someone who saved countless lives and who is someone to be in awe of and he did it with such emotion and such brilliance, I was shocked when I found out he didn't win an Ocscar for his performance. I know that for his role he was helped by the real Paul Rusesabagina, and he managed to make sure that Cheadle did not play Paul to be a hero, everything he did he did for his wife and family. A fantastic actor who apparently was the directors first choice to play Rusesabagina, however the producers and writers wanted a more well known name like Will Smith to play the role of Paul, however due to money and everything else that was happening at the time, the role was given to Cheadle and rightly so, I don't think any other African American actor would have been able to pull off such a powerful role like Cheadle managed in the end.
His wife Tatiana is played by the wonderful Sophie Okonedo, I didn't know much of this actress until the start of the year when I got to see The Secret Life of Bees and she delivers a fantastic performance, I have to say I don't understand why she was nominated for best supporting actress however, her role was brilliant, however I think it wasn't as good as a performance as she could have delivered, mainly due to the script. She is a great actress however she is only given a few moments in the film to shine and it was not really as worthy of a nomination as some other actresses who may have been overlooked.
Chemistry
Some of the best moments in the film come from the chemistry that is between Cheadle and Okonedo, they really have something between them which shines in their acting. With such a depressing moment, it really seemed like in some moments when they would make one another laugh, it was real and just easy, never did the laughter or the grief seem forced between Okonedo and Cheadle, they both pulled off something magnificent, their chemistry was obvious in the film, however of course because of the story that is overlooked but it is something I noticed within the film.
Cinematography
This film was filmed amazingly well, all the way through it had an almost documentary feel to it and I think this added to the emotion of the film and the realism that you do feel when you watch the film. I think it is something of beauty when a film like this manages to get across something so horrible like genocide without actually showing too much of the bad scenes, there are only a few scenes in which they show how bad the genocide actually. Filmed amazingly well.
Problems with the film
There really isn't much, I think the film was very gripping and defiantly moving, but if you don't pay too much attention you might have trouble working out why someone you thought is good is now shooting other people, all the way throughout the film I found the different sides hard to differentiate between and it's hard to work out whose shooting who.
Should You Watch The Film?
It is one of the best and most heart wrenching films I have watched in a long time, it is one of those sort of films you have to watch before your demise, it is so powerful and just brilliantly
Details
Running Time: 121 minutes Rating: 12 Director: Terry George Release Date: 2004
Advantages: A true story of heroic proportions. Disadvantages: That it happened at all.
...Rusesabagina (Don Cheadle) is the hotel manager of the Milles Collines a Belgian owned hotel in Rwanda. When civil war breaks out between the Hutu And the Tutsis (the two main tribes). The Hutu want to wipe the Tutsis from the face of the earth because when the Belgians colonised Rwanda they gave the best jobs to Tutsis and let them rule the country. Now that the Belgians are gone the Hutu who regard Rwanda as their land want revenge, which is stirred ... ...Okonedo) a Tutsis, uses the hotel to shelter both Hutu (not caught up in the fervour) And Tutsis Refugees, He manages this by both bribes and influence. As the hotel fills with men, women and children Paul try's everything he can to keep them safe using money and whiskey to keep the local Hutu general on side in order to keep the rebels away and frantic phone calls abroad pleading for some kind of intervention.
The UN who are led by the sympathetic ...
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Advantages: Superb acting, deeply moving story Disadvantages: It really happened and we all let it
...Rusesabagina likes his job as hotel manager and is a good husband and father to wife Tatiana and their three children. When a politically active friend of his warns him that the Hutus are ready to rise up against their neighbours, the Tutsis, he dismisses it as war talk. Little does he know that everyone's worst nightmare is about to happen and thousands of Tutsis are to be slain. Paul is forced to shelter his family and neighbours in the hotel where ... ...is when he leaves the hotel to find supplies and finds himself in the midst of a sea of bodies - all dead - men, women and children - and I utterly believed that I was watching a man in denial of what was in front of his face. Superb.
Paul's wife, Tatiana, is played by Sophie Okonedo, and again is superb as a woman terrified for her family. Some of her best moments are when she is trying to find news of her brother and sister-in-law and their children ...
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Advantages: Excellent performances by Cheadle and Okonedo, compelling (if disturbing) subject matter Disadvantages: Not quite the classic it could have been
...The story revolves around hotel House Manager Paul Rusesabagina (Don Cheadle), a Hutu married to Tatiana, a Tutsi (Sophie Okonedo) who finds himself helping over a thousand refugees. He is not portrayed as a saintly figure by any means - in fact, his pragmatic and astute businessman persona reminded me very much of Schindler (indeed, the situation bears more than a few similarities to events preceding the World Wars, with an assassination sparking ... ...a Hutu working at the hotel who doesn't share Rusesabagina's tolerance of the "cockroaches", as the Tutsis are termed by the Hutu radio; a Red Cross worker; the President of Sabina, the Belgian company that owned the hotel, and an army General who helped Rusesabagina but not for any altruistic reasons. In fact, Rusesabagina surrounds himself with important people and pampers to their every whim in order to store up favours for his family if he ever ...
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Hotel Rwanda is a disturbing film to watch, much like the yesterday's news that it reports. I remember when my father was watching the new reports of Kosovo and the Racak Massacre in 1999, and how the horrifying events and the actions of these "evil men", as he called them sent him further into depression, just by watching the news. I think that watching Hotel Rwanda has had a similar effect on me. It is a film that has put me at the forefront of ... ...by Don Cheadle), a Rwandan Hotel owner who becomes a humanitarian hero in the midst of Rwanda's civil war in 1994. As the political turmoil of guerrilla warfare and an assassination of the president ignites the old racial divides between the Hutus and the Tutsis of Rwanda, the Hutu-ran state armies and interwhami militia begin an ethnic cleansing of all their Tutsi neighbours. Paul (who is a Hutu, but shares marriage to Tatiana, a Tutsi woman with ...
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Hotel Rwanda is one of the best true story's I have ever seen.
It really does show you the horror and misfortune that goes un-noticed in some parts of the world.
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Plot Outline
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The story tells you of the worst genocide in African history, which took place in the country of Rwanda. Over a million people have been slaughtered in just a few short months, and no help is forthcoming. One man, a hotel manager plucks up the ... ...own family, by using his hotel as a refugee camp. Battling against incredible odds, with little help from the army, and his family and friends being murdered all around him, he is the only hope the refugees have. But time is running short, and death is knocking on every door.
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My Thoughts
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The movie is truly gripping with some most disturbing drama of events that you just won't believe could happen. It's a huge eye opener ...
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Special Features: Feature Length Directors Commentary, Don Cheadle Selected Scenes Commentary, A Message For Peace Making Hotel Rwanda
Aspect Ratio: 16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, Dolby Digital Stereo Surround
Dubbing Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround English<br>Dolby Digital Stereo Surround English
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Listed on Ciao since : 11/10/2005
DVD Description
Don Cheadle gives a riveting performance as Paul Rusesabagina, the manager of a European-owned hotel in Rwanda, who created a secret refugee camp for the Tutsi people during the brutal genocide committed against them by the Hutu people in 1994. His efforts helped to save 1200 lives out of close to a million who were killed. HOTEL RWANDA shows this man's courage, while also capturing the political events that occurred between April and September '94. First, United Nations soldiers are restricted from fighting back against Hutu guerillas, even after the Rwandan president is assassinated and the country is thrown into chaos. But as the fighting worsens, all non-Rwandans including UN peacekeepers, Europeans, and Americans are evacuated. This leaves the Tutsi people defenceless against aggressive Hutus who are armed with machine guns and machetes. While working the system with strategic phone calls to powerful international contacts of the hotel, Rusesabagina also uses smart lies and power plays to hold off the Hutus. The morale among the refugees is low, but because they are protected from the inconceivable brutality happening outside the hotel's gates, they maintain a sense of hope. Powerful acting from all cast members, including throngs of children, makes this film touching and believable. Sophie Okonedo offers moving support as Rusesabagina's wife Tatiana, Nick Nolte shows knowing machismo as an American UN officer, and Joaquin Phoenix turns in a heartfelt display as a TV journalist. But it is the delicate treatment that director Terry George gives the insane, helpless situation depicted in HOTEL RWANDA which makes the film so penetrating. While the violence and gore of the genocide play a disturbing part in the film, the focus lies on the heroism of its protagonist and the strength with which he navigates under seemingly impossible odds.
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