Hotel Rwanda (2004)

"Magnificent.  Ann Hornaday, Washington Post
"Enraging and enthralling.  Michael Sragow, Baltimore Sun
"An extraordinary and effective film.  Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

Editor's Note 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 defenseless 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.

	Don Cheadle
	Joaquin Phoenix
	Nick Nolte
	Sophie Okonedo
	Andrea Guerra - Musical Score
	Keir Pearson - Writer
	Martin Katz - Executive Producer
	Naomi Geraghty - Editor
	Robert Fraisse - Cinematographer
	Terry George - Writer
	Terry George - Producer
	Terry George - Director

Rolling Stone
"[T]his is a film of rare courage and imperishable heart." 12/30/2004 p.171

New York Times
"[A] wrenching film..." 12/22/2004 p.E1

USA Today
"Cheadle already is generating well-deserved Oscar talk, as is the movie..." 12/22/2004 p.3D

Los Angeles Times
"[The film's] strength is its refusal to stint on the horrors and atrocities, in being unafraid to show us a vivid picture of the blood lust that gripped that country seemingly out of nowhere." 12/22/2004 p.E17

Chicago Sun-Times
"Cheadle etches a vivid character in the foreground." 12/01/2004 p.103-4

Uncut
"Cheadle's performance is impeccable....Deeply moving..." 04/01/2005 p.139

Sight and Sound
"[I]n his first leading role Cheadle pitches it exactly right....The story is what matters here. And as current events in Darfur show, it's one that can't be told too often." 04/01/2005 p.60-62

Uncut
Ranked #25 in Uncut's Best Films Of 2005 -- "George's film repeatedly asks why the world community failed to intervene. Powerful emotive filmmaking." 01/01/2006 p.82-83

James Berardinelli's ReelViews 9 of 10
If you're like me, you probably paid little attention to the attempted genocide that occurred during - James Berardinelli

Chicago Sun-Times 9 of 10
This all succeeds as riveting drama. "Hotel Rwanda" is not about hotel management, but about heroism - Roger Ebert