No room at the inn

Paul 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 he works, along with tourists and refugees. When the UN forces arrive, Paul thinks they are all safe; little does he know that for anyone who is African, their troubles have only just begun, because the UN cannot or will not help them and they are left to their own devices. Suddenly, Paul is responsible for the lives of the hundreds of people sheltering in the hotel. Will he manage to save their lives from the marauding Hutu militia? And will his family ever be reunited again?

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 - her grief at their possible death is palpable and deeply moving. I liked the fact that, although Okonedo is a beautiful woman, as Tatiana, she looks very gawky and dowdy - of course, this shouldn't matter, but it did make her look more convincing. I also liked her on-screen relationship with Don Cheadle - the pair of them were totally convincing as a loving couple.

Another role that I admired was that of the Red Cross lady, Pat Archer, played by Cara Seymour, who is one of the few westerners prepared to lay down their lives for the children in her care. Pat Archer's on-screen time was short, but her performance was still deeply moving for all that; her devastation as she tells Paul of a child who promises not to be a Tutsi any more if she be allowed to live is painful to watch.

This is not a film for those who have sensitive stomachs. There are a lot of disturbing images of Tutsis and Hutu sympathisers being shot down and attacked by machetes; there are also lots of dead bodies. The images are not particularly graphic, but this doesn't make them any less painful to watch and I think the guidance rating of 12 is possibly a little low. Then again, perhaps it is no bad thing for teenagers to know what goes on in this world of ours. I personally found the film very disturbing; not because of what I saw, but because it is still so easy for genocide to happen in this world of ours. I thought the director dealt with this very well. The message is clear - the West sat by and let the genocide happen - but it could have been much more preachy than it was.

Classification: 12