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Terry George's Hotel Rwanda is a powerfully heart-wrenching film, depicting the eruption of ethnic tensions in the Rwanda Civil War of 1994, when Hutu extremists attempted to annihilate the Tutsi minority. As well as opening the eyes of the public to the genocide, Hotel Rwanda explores the vast psychological realms of human nature it is a poignant contemplation on the cold-blooded efficiency with which the atrocities were committed, as well as a celebration of the intrinsic goodness of man.

Don Creadle plays Paul Rusesabagina, the savvy Hutu manger of the luxurious Milles Collines hotel. In this oasis in the desert,' Rusesabagina sheltered and saved 1,268 mostly Tutsi refugees from the massacre, in an unparalleled feat of self-sacrifice and heroism. Don Cheadle's phenomenal performance and the critically acclaimed talents of Sophie Okondedo, as Rusesabagina's wife, and Nick Nolte, the compassionate UN peacekeeper, succeeds in emotionally engaging the audience from the very beginning.

In terms of historical accuracy, Terry George is to be applauded for his efforts in fairly portraying all the parties involved in history's most intense genocide. Based on a true story, the plausibility of the film is never questioned: the sheer knowledge that the horrific slaughter of 800,000 Tutsis truly had happened not only increases the compelling nature of the storyline, but also its emotional intensity for the audience.

Hotel Rwanda is by no means a chronicle of the genocide, yet George's representation of Western attitudes is particularly impressive and true to history. While he does not overlook the courage and benevolence of some Westerners, the movie itself is a condemnation of their general indifference, and the tragic results of their indifference speaks only too clearly for itself in the film.

To a certain extent, Hotel Rwanda failed to elaborate on the discrimination suffered by the Hutus under Belgian colonialism, where they were regarded as inferior beings to the Tutsis and deprived of numerous education and job opportunities. The resentment kindled by this oppression would have justified to some extent their passion for the extermination of the Tutsi race. The film assumes a slightly biased stance and the audience becomes influenced to the extent that when the Tutsi rebels open fire on the Hutus, we feel relief rather than horror. Nevertheless, Hotel Rwanda still manages to stress the similarities between the two ethnic groups, and subsequently condemns the senselessness of the violence.

Another historical aspect misrepresented in Hotel Rwanda is the role of women and children Hutus as perpetrators of the genocide. Contrary to the impression created that Hutu extremists were all masculine, women and teenage girls were the cheer leaders' of the genocide - they finished off the wounded, pilfered the valuables of the dead, and played the key informants of Tutsi hiding places. The involvement of feminine aggressors in the Rwanda genocide were often overlooked due to the generalisation that women were usually the principle victims.

However, to its credit, Hotel Rwanda accomplishes its objective as a conveyer of the brutal reality of genocide. Its occasional lapse in historical accuracy does not detract from the hypnotic power of the story and the sobering impact of the imagery. Hotel Rwanda is a film not to be missed.

Learn more about this author, Mimi Lu.
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