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Title:
Hotel Rwanda
Region:
One
Genre:
Drama
Stars:
Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo, Nick Nolte, Jean Reno, and Joaquin Phoenix
Writers:
Keir Pearson and Terry George
Director:
Terry George
Feature
length: 122 minutes
Extras:
Audio Commentary By Director Terry George And The Real-Life Subject Of The Film
Paul Rusesabagina, With Select Commentary By Musician Wyclef Jean, Selected
Scenes Commentary By Don Cheadle, “A Message Of Peace: Making Hotel Rwanda”
Documentary, “Return To Rwanda” Documentary, Theatrical Trailer, Home Video
Previews
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and French Dubbed Language Dolby
Surround Sound
Subtitles:
English Closed Captions and English, French, and Spanish Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Amaray Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 24
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Dolby Surround Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 2004/DVD Release: 2005
Theatrical
Distributor: United Artists
Home
Video Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: PG-13
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Following
peace negotiations the elected President of Rwanda was assassinated in 1994. The
majority Hutu militia then began the systematic extermination of the minority
Tutsis people, who were the object of hatred because they were the favored class
when the indigenous population was controlled by Belgium. Paul Rusesabagina
(played by Don Cheadle) was the manager of a large hotel that was the resort
spot for diplomats and vacationers alike when visiting Rwanda. As the country
descended into madness, Paul along with his wife, children and what would amount
to over 1,200 refugees found refuge within the confines of the hotel, but not
without peril. Although western nations sent military personnel into the area,
they were instructed only to liberate their own citizens and the UN forces were
not allowed to engage the Hutu militia. Thus Paul found himself in a seemingly
hopeless position where he had to think on his feet constantly and do whatever
he could to save his family and the people who sought shelter in the hotel to
buy another hour and another day of life.
In
the end Paul Rusesabagina saved over 1,200 refuges’ lives and that included
non-militant Hutus as well since it was believed if one was a moderate and not
in favor of the genocide of the Tutsis people then that person was a traitor and
would suffer the same terrible fate at the blade of a machete. In many ways the
story of Paul Rusesabagina reminded me of the story of Oskar Schindler as
depicted in Steven Spielberg’s Academy Award® winning feature
“Schindler’s List.” Both men could have easily stood by and did nothing,
but both men chose humanity over violence, ignorance, and apathy. Schindler was
a member of the Nazi party, but his factory became a haven where more than 1,100
Jews survived during the Holocaust. Rusesabagina’s efforts helped save over
1,200 Tutsis and Hutus alike. Both men bribed military officials and literally
had their own lives in jeopardy for their sympathetic life saving actions. In
“Schindler’s List” the closing scene where we see the descendents of the
people Schindler saved place rocks upon his grave sight was for me one of the
most memorable and moving segments from the film. I wonder how many descendents
of the people Rusesabagina saved will be present at the time of his death? If
this film teaches people anything, I hope it is that this sort of madness is not
just something that occurs in other countries in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe,
or the Middle East. Genocide can occur anywhere and like a festering malignancy
it grows infecting and affecting all people and as human being regardless of
race, politics, and creed, we must band together and stop it from ever happening
anywhere again.
The
performance by Don Cheadle is nothing short of stunning and some of the most
memorable scenes in the film are shared between Cheadle and Actors Nick Nolte
and Joaquin Phoenix, who also both turn in great supporting roles with some
dialogue that hits the nail on the target so hard that it seems nothing less
than haunting. The film received three Academy Award® nominations and two
Golden Globe® nominations and was listed on over 120 top-ten lists too.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment delivers “Hotel Rwanda” on DVD with a
fabulous anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) aspect ratio presentation as well as a
well-rounded and aggressive English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack. A
French Language Dubbed Dolby Surround Soundtrack and English Closed Captions for
the hearing impaired as well as English, French, and Spanish Language Subtitles
are encoded onto the DVD as options too.
Instead
of talking about the technical aspects of how the film was made, Director Terry
George discusses with the real Paul Rusesabagina the true-life actions that
occurred in Rwanda back in 1994 as well how it relates to the film’s
dramatization of the events. During the ending credits there are some audio
comments by Musician Wyclef Jean and Actor Don Cheadle also provides his own
commentary for select scenes from the film (21:47). The behind-the-scenes
documentary “Message Of Peace” (27:54) and look at Rwanda today with the
real Paul Rusesabagina in “Return To Rwanda” (14:30) are included among the
supporting extra value features on the disc along with the theatrical trailer
(2:07) and a PSA with Don Cheadle for Amnesty International.
Bonus
trailers for other MGM DVD titles that include the “MGM Means Great Movies”
advertisement (1:12) and previews for “Osama” (1:09), “Hart’s War”
(2:27), “Manic” (1:13), “Bowling For Columbine” (1:56), “The Yes
Men” (1:09), and “Undertow” (2:12) are provided along with box cover art
for even more DVD titles available now from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home
Entertainment.
The
interactive menus are all well rendered and easy to navigate. “Hotel Rwanda”
is an excellent film that will debut on DVD-Video at retailers on and offline on
Tuesday, April 12, 2005 courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2005 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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