Review of The Film Hotel Rwanda

The film Hotel Rwanda is about a battle between the Hutu and the Tutsi that lead to a major war in Rwanda. Paul Rusesabagina who is the manager of Sabena owned the hotel called des Mille Collines. Paul is Hutu but he has a wife named Tatiana who is Tutsi. Georges Rutaganda was a Hutu extremist, he also provided supplies to the hotel, and he was a local leader of Interahamwe. Georges shows during the film that he does not like Paul’s marriage to Tatiana. Things begin to get worse in Rwanda, causing Paul and his family to see his neighbors get killed in violence. During the film Paul began to bribe people with alcohol and money to keep his family safe. When the Civil war started an officer threatens Paul and his neighbors which made him takes his neighbors to the hotel. Once people saw what Paul was doing, more people started coming to the hotel for safety. The people who assist in the film were the UN peacekeepers, the Red Cross, and orphanages. Colonel Oliver who led the United Nation Peacekeeping force was unable to fight against the Hutus because they cannot get involve with the genocide. While the UN tried to evacuate a group of people from the hotel the Hutu ambushed them which caused them to head back to the hotel. Paul has the courage to plead with the Rwandan Army General Augustin Bizimungu to help them but after blackmailing the general, Paul decides that his family and everybody in the hotel should leave. During this bloody war, after passing through enemy lines Paul was able to save more people and reunite with his love ones at a refugee camp.

Hotel Rwanda shows the audience that there still hope during difficulty times, everything has a price and self-support. While the town was experiencing killing and hatred there needed to be a strong person to keep the community together and become a leader. There is famous quote use today and it goes “Everything has a price.” I believe that quote is powerful in this film because Paul pays for his family and the people of the community freedom and life by bringing them into his hotel. Also, by bribing the Army General for military protection but once the bribes run out that when the protection stopped. Self-support was an important part in this film when the West refuse to help during the genocide and that lea to the UN peacekeepers being ordered not to use their weapons. From a biblical standpoint two main things I found important, one being the Christ like figure and second, the true test of Faith.

The Christ like figure in this film called Hotel Rwanda was Paul Rusesabagina. Paul did not die on the cross like Christ, but he made countless of sacrifices more than any human being during their hard times. First, Paul allowed over a thousand people to stay at his hotel while the war been going on. Second, In the film, Paul goes to the Army General to see if he can help but the general decide not to help Paul at first until Paul stood up to him and continue to press him so that he can help the people but once the bribes stop the General stop helping. Third, Paul and others decided that the hotel was not safe to stay there anymore so Paul with the help of others and the united nation begin to walk to their safe house and during their passing through they continue to save people and get them people to a safer refugee camp behind Tutsi lines. A lot of people looked up to Paul to pull them through the storm.

Faith was being tested during these hard times, there were people who had faith, and some who did not have faith. Tatiana who is the wife of Paul displays her faith by putting her trust not only in Christ but also into Paul. During the film Tatiana shouted “oh Jesus, no” when seeing her neighbors killed. Even though the family was going through hell and could not understand the madness Tatiana still looked to Paul for answers. According to Isaac (2004) Paul told Tatiana that he thanks God every day for the time they have together. Paul seems to be thankful because no man no knows the time or hour but while he still alive he will continue to protect and help his family and also the people of the town. Colonel Oliver stated that we are here as peacekeepers and not peace makers. I believe that Colonel Oliver never display his true faith because he was constantly saying smart remarks and giving Paul a hard time. I felt that during those hard times, a person should not be bashing or name calling when they are fighting a war.

Works Cited

1. Des Forges, A. (1999). Leave none to tell the story: Genocide in Rwanda. Human Rights Watch.
2. Gourevitch, P. (2000). We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families: Stories from Rwanda. Picador.
3. Isaac, M. (2004). Review: Hotel Rwanda. Journal of Genocide Research, 6(3), 455-457.
4. Keane, F. (2005). The role of the media in Rwanda: The road to genocide revisited. Journal of Genocide Research, 7(1), 67-91.
5. Melvern, L. (2004). Conspiracy to murder: The Rwandan genocide. Verso Books.
6. Prunier, G. (1997). The Rwanda crisis: History of a genocide. Columbia University Press.
7. Reyntjens, F. (2009). The Great African War: Congo and regional geopolitics, 1996-2006. Cambridge University Press.
8. Rusesabagina, P. (2006). An ordinary man: An autobiography. Penguin Books.
9. Thompson, A. (2007). The media and the Rwanda genocide. Pluto Press.
10. Uvin, P. (1999). The international dimensions of internal conflict: Lessons from the Rwandan genocide. Journal of Humanitarian Assistance, 32.