The movie hotel Rwanda
The movie hotel Rwanda starts with a black screen, a voice is heard over radio talking about the atrocities faced on the hands of the Tutsis. The voice resents about the Tutsi patronage in Government. The Hutu power radio. The scene changes with a famous song of Umqombothi sang by South African Ivon Chakachaka. The movie begins in Kigali the year 1994, the camera moves a pan and shows a busy Kigali uptown section, people are very busy as they go about their businesses, some in offices while others are leaving for home. The protagonist is introduced when he is in a car with the hotel’s driver Dube. Dube is Tutsi and worried and jokes about the lyrics of the theme song. He replaces the word ‘wema’ to Hutu.
Paul’s driver is Tutsi. The environment is hostile and Hutu supremacy protesters are having a gathering at the town square As Paul, and the manager is driving through one of the protesters’ spots, his driver, he is automatically identified as Tutsi. The protester asks him what he was doing. Things would have gotten murkier had it not been for the manager’s intervention. He brandished a piece of clothing with Hutu colors and chanted Hutu supremacy. They are later allowed to move; they drive to their destination. They head to a local business person who supplies the hotel beer. In the office, the businessman is called George. He urges the manager to join the movement and support his Hutu comrades. Paul and George leave for the warehouse to go for the merchandise. A rather unfortunate occurrence happens, a wooden container full of machetes drops down. The businessman looks perplexed. They leave for the hotel and meet a group of protesters. Dube is exasperated and counts himself lucky. There are speculations of a guerilla coming. After meeting with the General who is a representative of the UN peacekeeping mission in Rwanda and the local Hutu General, Paul sets for home, he drives himself as he listens to the news on the radio, and understands that the UN-brokered peace cannot last for long and that a war is coming, he arrives home and meets with his wife and a friend called Odette an older woman. The looks on their faces indicate trouble; Paul’s wife is Tutsi, and she is aware that tribal clashes might start. They walk, and he meets his brother in law, inside the house, the children are doing homework. Paul’s son informs them of the soldiers on the streets, Paul and his wife peep and see a few soldiers at Victor’s home and arrest him. Later that night in bed, Taitana is so worried and asks Paul what might have been the reason for Victor’s arrest. Paul explains that Victor might have been accused of spying for Tutsi rebels. Paul stresses that family is essential therefore wasn’t in a capacity to help Victor.
The next day Paul meets two white journalists of which one of them is already complaining of how bad the assignment would be. The other one convinces the gruntled fellow to relax and enjoy the lovely hotel. He walks to them and welcomes them to the Millie Collins Hotel. They meet in the bar with a local journalist and discuss succession in Rwanda and how the transfer of power to the majority created a feeling of revenge as Hutus were the underprivileged during the country’s colonial years.
The movie Hotel Rwanda is about the Rwandese genocide of 1994. Tutsis and Hutus killed each other while the world looked away. The film doesn’t tell about the genocide that gives a good man who saved the lives of almost 1500 people. Don Cheadle plays the role of Paul, an American actor cum director. He is depicted as a quiet man, reliable and noble-minded during the time of chaos. The protagonist, Paul Rusesabagina, is not the affluent man. He is the man who cares about humanity and the conservation of the dignity of human beings. In a time where everyone in Rwanda looks at things with the tribal lenses, Paul is openhearted and sees the man and not the tribe. The movie talks in such a way that it tells a story of a tough man. The latter he deserts when he says his wife that the most important thing is the loyalty to the family and not tribe. Hotel managers are assets, they are multilingual, and others were even polyglots. They could fit clearly for the position of ambassador, and Paul was such a man. They are aware when the next bottle of scotch would come in and how to multiply it six-folds. They are very impressed with their people skills and can handle conflicts with ease. They know everyone and everything, from the penthouse living millionaire to the local pimp able to get you a girl.
Paul was that kind of a manager; he was a Hutu betrothed to a Tutsi called Tatiana played by Sophie Okonedo). Paul is foreign-trained and works in a four-star Hotel des Milles Collines in the capital city of Kigali. He does his job effectively; he understands the nitty-gritty of coded language. When the General’s briefcase taken for keeping and when it is brought back after the keep with a bottle of scotch whiskey, he understands that to acquire exotic beer, hands must be smoothened, and bribes were given. He knows that his guests have a taste for luxury, and he offers nothing but that in the tiny East African country. Many would think that these situations make him a bad man. Still, contrary to that, he becomes a master of conditions. The endgame of all is that the hotel runs swiftly.
Unfortunately, the genocide begins, and everyone is so tensed. The propaganda of war is generated, and the tides have to change. Historically Belgium used a disparaging tactic to distinguish between the Hutu and Tutsis. Creating a country split in two fronts, one the slave of another, the white man had gone, and it was the Hutus in power, they felt that it was time to pay back and to heal old wounds. This they thought would only happen with the spilling of Tutsi blood, after the Belgians had gone power was left to the Hutus, they never trusted the Tutsis. They felt that they were the main problem to the Rwandan society, but still how could the Belgians allow the minority to rule the majority, that was the colonial tactic everywhere where tribes that collaborated were empowered as those who resist languishing in abject poverty. This time all scores would be settled in one brutal war that Rwanda would never forget about. The colonial times marked a period when the Tutsis were dominant, Tutsis are a southern Cushitic people who specialize in pastoralism, in areas where there were Tutsis had almost similar characteristics to Hutus the Belgian government looked at the number of animals one had. The more the livestock you owned automatically, you would be branded Tutsi. The Belgians were overwhelmed not only with statistics but also with the demand for independence by the Hutus. They could not carry their pawns back with them to Belgium when they exited power was left in the hands of Hutus, they were bitter they wanted revenge and bayed for Tutsi blood. Thousands of Hutu army rummaged dwellings looking for Tutsis to kill. The united nations represented by colonel Oliver assesses the position in Rwanda, he even goes further to request for support from his bosses he is ignored. Paul tells the headquarters of the growing violence in Rwanda; unfortunately, the Rwandan branch is not a concern of the management. The onus is now on the two men to work effectively and hand in hand to save the thousands of lives they can. When the film premiered in Toronto 2004, there was criticism about how the film was more of a story about two individuals and not the analysis of the genocide itself. The directors have made a uniform stand that a movie should not be about the murder of millions of people. Terry and others wrote and directed the video, the film was conceived when Pearson visited Rwanda and was told about the survivors.
Paul walks in one of the concentration camps and meets one of the Hutu militia leaders. The building looks like an abandoned warehouse, women and men alike are seen in the cold as they talk a woman is being slapped by a company of two men. They move to the inner rooms still talking, and he removes cash, the rebel commander tells him that there is no scotch whiskey, Paul looks at him surprisedly. He reflects on the situation in the country. He is worried about what his guests would think about the grand hotel. The rebel commander talked about the captured Tutsis in the hotel as cockroaches and needed to be cleaned. He goes ahead and even alludes that Paul should hand over his wife, who was a Tutsi. The rebel looks at Paul, and his hate he has for Tutsis manifest on his face. Paul is shocked but helpless. The rebel leaders allude that once the United Nations exit Rwanda, they will complete their cleansing process of Rwanda. The rebel gives him rice, beer, and soft drinks for the kids. The rebel holds them for long with talks of how to end the Tutsis, Paul protests and states clearly that dawn is coming and that they have to go. They leave in a foggy and misty morning; visibility is blurred, and hardly can they see the road. They stop the car and monitor the situation. He opens the door and falls on a pile of dead bodies. The river was being used as a dumping site of bodies killed .it was the most unusual and scary situation in his life. He was so afraid as he saw bodies of men, women, and children strewn all over. He screams and dries at the ambiguous site. The fog clears, and he can see again eerie music plays on the background, Paul walks a few meters and sees a field the size of a football pitch with rotten decaying human bodies. He walks back to his car and requests his driver to drive away.
Paul drives with his family, and as they pass almost every street they see bodies lying dead, the kids are frightened, his wife dejected seeing his people maimed and killed helter-skelter, bodies were thrown left and right. He tells his kids most seriously not to look at those scenarios. Rwanda is found in East Africa. Just like the United States, Rwanda has a stern relationship with the outside world. This has shaped Rwanda’s foreign policy. Rwanda was colonized by Belgium under trusteeship by the United Nations after the second world war, the United States too starts with a story of independence from Britain. The movie Hotel Rwanda shows how individuals helped conserve life. The story of Paul Rusesabagina shows how individuals respect the law and the sanctity of human life. Gomez (2017) agrees that experience is essential, and nations should endeavor to have all-round citizens. They strive to uphold the law at all times. The Rwandan genocide is not the first in Africa, in sub Saharan Africa where most countries are in a state of wanton poverty. McCrea et al (2019) reiterates that violence indeed contributes to poverty in the United States among black communities. The movie highlights very vital issues related to justice. Of importance is the response of international bodies like the United Nations their response and the key questions why there was no coordinated response towards the plight of the Paul, the hotel manager.
The United Nations, a body that is majorly funded by the United States of America was lackadaisical into coming to the plight of the Tutsis. Of importance was the bad precedence of the Belgian government where they used the Tutsis to oppress and trample on the rights of the Hutus, this created resentment that sprung after the majority took power. Gehen and Grey 2020 propounds that soldiers get frustrated and decide to support oppressive regimes . Osterberg (2017) explains explicitly the rigorous training experienced by the soldiers making them human robots . The happenings in Rwanda in 1994 has left a dent in its Policy.The United States is portrayed as being selective and with no firm foreign policy. The world and the whole justice system need to learn from Rwanda. justice should not be applied selectively, and the world as a whole should have come to the aid of Rwanda
Gómez, A. G. (2017). The importance of Public Legal Education for strengthening the Rule of Law. International Journal on Rule of Law, Transitional Justice, and Human Rights, 8(8), 26-32.
McCrea, K. T., Richards, M., Quimby, D., Scott, D., Davis, L., Hart, S., … & Hopson, S. (2019). Understanding violence and developing resilience with African American youth in high-poverty, high-crime communities. Children and Youth Services Review, 99, 296-307.
Geheran, M., & Frey, D. (2020). Leadership in War and Genocide: Roméo Dallaire in Rwanda. In Historians on Leadership and Strategy (pp. 15-39). Springer, Cham.
Österberg, J. (2017). Preparatory Military Training: An Experiment in Integrating Minorities in the Swedish Armed Forces. Res Militaris, 2(5), 1-12.