Unlimitedia
Sick Product of a Sick System
BeSummers
Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.
Freeman
This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.
adonis98-743-186503
Paul Rusesabagina was a hotel manager who housed over a thousand Tutsi refugees during their struggle against the Hutu militia in Rwanda. Despite a pretty good perfomance by Don Cheadle Hotel Rwanda never really reaches the potentials that it has plus Nolte and Phoenix were basically forgettable in both of their roles. The film also goes for the cheap drama moments and it really doesn't work at all and personally i think it really could have been better but unfortunately i just found it very below average despite some good things. (5/10)
krocheav
British Co-writer, producer/director Terry George (The Promise '17) has certainly carved out a name for being a maker of films to give us cause to think. He's also capable of showing the un-show able without resorting to sensationalised cinema 'stylized' violence - in fact, his great control allows us to be horrified & moved to tears with a remarkable lack of explicitness. So effective is his approach, the viewer feels as though they were watching an unfolding documentary account. His performers give remarkably convincing portrayals, leaving no doubt that cast and crew all shared Mr George's passion for this tragic cause. Excellent production values ensure an involving experience without overdone visual CGI excesses - making all that we do see so convincingly real. Some have drawn comparisons to Schindler's List but, that was stylized Hollywood, where' Rwanda' is all raw soul - giving it a far more compelling believability. Much of the world apologised for its inaction --after the event-- but only following certain serving personnel and press witnesses having publicly shamed them into doing so. This brings into question the true effectiveness of the UN - and the responsibility of the politically 'economic' heart of the developed world.
Filipe Neto
Based on a true story, this is one of the hardest watching movies I've ever seen. Not even the Holocaust was portrayed in film as hard as we can see in this film, where the theme is Rwanda's genocide, by the eyes of a friendly hotel manager who just wants to protect himself and his family. They are caught in the midst of a series of political and social twists that escalate and turn into a genocidal civil war, and we can see how they suffer and fear for their lives. The way they quickly capture our sympathy turns their fears into our fears, in a powerful and very emotional way. Suddenly, those deaths also affect us and the initial sense of detachment fades. What more could a movie want? Despite this, the film isn't very graphic, we are spared the most painful scenes, although it has many shocking scenes. The film also criticizes the inability of UN to intervene there and save lives. Don Cheadle led the cast and made the biggest film of his career to date, shining in an inspired and profound performance. The environment, the scenery, the costumes... everything was meticulously thought out to reproduce the events and the realism paid of. Although unsuitable for the most suggestible, its one of the most intense films I know.
denis888
Rwandan genocide was a bleak, bloody, ruthless and violent page in African history, and Hutu massacring Tutsi and UN Forces also suffering casualties is no small thing to depict. A bad filmmaker would make this into a sweet melodrama with all the clichés and trite ideas. A good director has made this heavy story into a real must see foe everyone who wanna know about what genocide is and how awful vile people may behave. Terry George made a great work here, showing just one page of that tragic book - hotelier Paul Rusesabagina, a Hutu, saving hundreds of both Tutsi and Hutu from immediate murder and shame. His actions are shown as actions not of a super hero, but a mere man of flesh and blood, but with guts and valor to withstand the threat, deceive the killers gently, buy the time, do all one can do in such gruesome situation, and thus save those people. Don Cheadle is a highlight of this as a main hero, and his dignity, vigor, skills and power shine all throughout the movie. Nick Nolte as an UN officer is another great stronghold here, brave and level-headed man of duty and word. Even the cameos of such stars as Joaquin Phoenix or Cara Seymour are absolute treat. And then, there are all those vile, brutal Hutu warriors with machete and guns, cold-blooded and intolerant. They are shown so deeply true that they awake sheer terror and shiver. This is a very good movie and deserves all the praise and attention. 10 out of 10
