Movie Review: Hotel Rwanda

This is the story of Paul Rusesabagina who housed over a thousand refugees in the hotel he managed in Rwanda. Don Cheadle gives the performance of a lifetime as Paul. The movie centers on the 1994 genocide that took the lives of 800,000 Tutsi's. While America was watching the Trial of the Century, one of the greatest genocides of the century was taking place across the globe.

I thought the movie might be one giant shamefest against the international community for its lack of response, and rightfully so. The global embarrassment is captured in one scene but it is one of the most emotional scenes in the movie. The UN was gathering people and fleeing the country but when a large group of children from a Catholic orphanage came running up to the Hotel, they are turned away. The priest and nuns who were caring for the children assume that the UN will take the orphans out of the country as well, but they only came for the foreigners. As those on the bus looked back at those left behind, looks of shame were returned with looks of abandonment. The song of several Rwandan children can be heard in the background as this gut-wrenching scene is taking place. If the song were on the movie's soundtrack I would buy the cd for that song alone, but I didn't hear it on the 30-second soundclips.

Hotel Rwanda is really the story of one man's courage. A man who daily risked his life to protect the innocent. You can read more about him in the not-yet-released book, Hotel Rwanda: Bringing the True Story of an African Hero to Film, written by Terry George, Paul Rusesabagina, and Don Cheadle.

In the REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT INQUIRY INTO THE ACTIONS OF THE UNITED NATIONS DURING THE 1994 GENOCIDE IN RWANDA it says:

"Acknowledgement of responsibility must also be accompanied by a will for change: a commitment to ensure that catastrophes such as the genocide in Rwanda never occur anywhere in the future."

Yet, another genocide is underway in Darfur, Sudan. 1.8 million people have been driven to the desert and left to die by armed militia groups. Why has the international community once again turned a blind eye? World Vision is there, doing what they can, but military action needs to put an end to this conflict. Now is not the time to point fingers at America or the UN. The entire world needs to come together on this and do something for the sake of humanity. All of human life has been created in the image of God. If we respect God, we will seek to preserve His image.