Hotel Rwanda

Summary

This film tells the true story of how a man saved the lives of 1,200 people from the Rwandan genocide of 1994. Paul Rusesabegina (played by Don Cheadle) is a hotel manager in the capital city of Kigali. When mass terror breaks out at the beginning of the genocide, Paul is confronted with a beseting task--protecting as many refugess as possible from certain annihilation. To do this he gathers everyone he can to the city's most elite hotel, where UN troops are protecting the guests. To his dismay, the UN abandons him and the other Rwandans shortly after the whites have been evacuated. The story unfolds as he uses all his available connections and negotiating skills to avert hostile enemy soldiers and militia while securing his family, friends, and fellow Rwandans until help can come, if at all.

Political Motive Behind the Film

In Rwanda, the people are divided into two groups: the Hutu majority and the Tutsi minority. For decades the two groups have experienced tension. UN peace accords tried to promote a treaty between Tutsi rebels and the Hutu-led government, but even when the treaty was signed, the Rwandan president was assasinated and an all-out genocide began. Genocide is the systematic extermination of a race of people. In this case, it was the Hutu race that sought to exterminate the Tutsis.

Amidst the carnage of pillaging, raping, burning, and murder, the international community watched and took no action. The movie shows the presence of this community in the form of UN troops led by a commander named Colonel Oliver (Nick Nolte). These troops were not allowed to intervene in the bloodshed. Nolte perfroms his role well by showing the impotence of the U.N. and the utter shame of it all. With sobering bluntness, Coloner Oliver tells Paul, "We think you're dirt, Paul. The West and everything you believe in thinks you're dirt... They aren't going to stop this slaughter." In another poignant scene, a caravan of buses leaves the hotel with all the remaining internationals, and as they start to go the camera focuses on the bus windows, showing the evacuated. The camera stops and focuses on a woman with her dog. Then on the other side of the glass, we see the Rwandan refugess, watching the exodus and realizing their abondonment. With a subtle stab in the heart, the camera makes its point: in a very real and basic sense, every country of the world turned its back on over 800,000 helpless people, who were considered unworthy of rescue.

Though most of us may not remember Rwanda in 1994, the film does a good job bringing the shame of our country's cowardice to our front door. And it should, because its message is one we cannot shrug off. We cannot ignore it, because in ignoring it we would also be ignoring God's Word:



"Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, "But we knew nothing about this," does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?" - Proverbs 24:11-12

There is a time to seek peace, and there is a time to bring justice. In the case of Rwanda, those with the power to save lives chose to let them die. There is a lesson to be learned here--and its appliaction is on our very doorstep. The Rwandan genocide may be over, but genocide is still happening. For over two years, Darfur, Sudan has experienced the same sort of tragedy, though at a slower rate of death. If we watch passively as things like this take place, we are no different from those who ignored the people of Rwanda. And if we make no steps to stop history from repeating itself, we aren't just neglecting our responsibility to humanity, we neglect God's command.

Hollywood may be politically Left, and we often don't share their views, but in this case the filmmakers of Hotel Rwanda are exactly right. As the world's salt and light, I hope we will rise to the occasion and join this movie's cause and rescue the dying.

Spiritual Issues in the Film

Of course, what's already been said about our responsibility to save the helpless is a spiritual issue. Christians aren't just called to preach the gospel; they're called to feed the hungry, clothe the poor, defend the weak, and in a word--to love. This film raises a few questions, however, about problems that mere human powers cannot solve. As one such problem, the evil manifested in the Rwandan genocide is unexplanable apart from the truth about human nature--we are all sinners and are capable of doing even the worst kinds of evil. As Christians, we should be apalled at how despicable we as humans can be, but we should not be surprised. To those who can't understand where such hate comes from, we can give the answer, as well as the solution.

Thus another question arising from this film is, "what, if anything, can do more than just stop such evil, and prevent it from happening?" There is only one force in the world that can change men's hearts from hate to love, from evil to good. As Christians, we have this power (though in vessels of clay, 1 Cor. 4:7) , because we have the Word of Truth, which reconciles people to God through Jesus Christ. The gospel breaks down all barriers between people, whether they be ethnic, social, or creedal. It gives us the power to love and forgive, because through it we have been loved and forgiven.

There is a need for just war. But war cannot finally solve the problems of humanity. Neither can negotiation, bribes, or treaties. All the humanistic philosophies of peace on earth can't bar the gates of genocidal malice. Ultimate peace won't come by taking lives or manipulating them, but by laying our own lives down. If we truly say we are Christians, it's not enough to support war on terror or genocide. We must go all the way and follow Christ's example. We must love the lost enough to go to the death for their sake--not theirs, but ours.

Conclusion

The film's strengths should be pretty clear from what's been said. The glaring weakness is that no mention of how people are ultimately saved is made. I don't expect Hollywood to preach the gospel, but I don't excuse them either.

This film is a must-see. For parents, the rating of PG-13 is an appropriate guide. Lastly, don't watch this film to be entertained, watch it to be moved. I pray you will.

[For further info about Rwanda's aftermath, see www.amnestyusa.org To learn about the present genocide inDarfur, Sudan, see www.savedarfur.org ]