Hotel Rwanda (2004)

Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager, houses over a thousand Tutsi refugees during their struggle against the Hutu militia in Rwanda, Africa.

Director:

Terry George

Writers:

Keir Pearson, Terry George

Stars:

Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo, Joaquin Phoenix

Top Rated Movies #228 | Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 17 wins & 45 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Xolani Mali	...	Policeman
Don Cheadle	...	Paul Rusesabagina
Desmond Dube	...	Dube
Hakeem Kae-Kazim	...	George Rutaganda
Tony Kgoroge	...	Gregoire
Rosie Motene	...	Receptionist
Neil McCarthy	...	Jean Jacques
Mabutho 'Kid' Sithole	...	Head Chef (as Kid Sithole)
Nick Nolte	...	Colonel Oliver
Fana Mokoena	...	General Bizimungu
Jeremiah Ndlovu	...	Old Guard
Sophie Okonedo	...	Tatiana Rusesabagina
Lebo Mashile	...	Odette
Antonio David Lyons	...	Thomas Mirama
Leleti Khumalo	...	Fedens

Storyline

1994. In Rwanda, the classification of the native population into Hutus and Tutsis, arbitrarily done by the colonial Belgians, is now ingrained within Rwandan mentality despite the Rwandan independence. Despite the Belgians having placed the Tutsis in a higher position during the Belgian rule, they have placed the majority Hutus in power after independence. Paul Rusesabagina, a Hutu married to a Tutsi, Tatiana Rusesabagina, is the House Manager of the Hotel Des Milles Collines in Kigali. The Milles Collines, owned by Sabena (the national airline of Belgium), is a four-star hotel catering primarily to wealthy white westerners. Paul, who knows how to work the system to run the hotel effectively for its guests and for Sabena, is proud that most of the Caucasians who he meets in this professional capacity treat him with respect. After a specific incident, the relative calm between the Tutsi guerrillas and government-backed Hutu militia takes a turn. Paul's thought that the native ...

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Plot Keywords:

rwanda | ethnic warfare | mass murder | hate monger | hotel | 

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Taglines:

Based on a true story of a man who fought impossible odds to save everyone he could and created a place where hope survived.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 on appeal for violence, disturbing images and brief strong language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Terry George had Don Cheadle in mind for the lead part from the beginning of his involvement. During pre-production, potential investors and interested studios wanted Denzel Washington, Wesley Snipes, Mekhi Phifer and even Will Smith because of their suggested bigger drawing capacity at the box office. But due to ultimately producing the film independently and coming up with the money himself, George was able to go back to his original choice.

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Goofs

The other hotel where Paul Rusesabagina keeps a safe, has a sign calling it "Hotel Diplomat". As Rwanda was fully francophone in 1994, this particular hotel was called and spelled "Hotel des Diplomates".

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Quotes

[first lines]
George Rutaganda: [voiceover] When people ask me, good listeners, why do I hate all the Tutsi, I say, "Read our history." The Tutsi were collaborators for the Belgian colonists, they stole our Hutu land, they whipped us. Now they have come back, these Tutsi rebels. They are cockroaches. They are murderers. Rwanda is our Hutu land. We are the majority. They are a minority of traitors and invaders. We will squash the infestation. We will wipe out the RPF rebels. This is RTLM, Hutu power radio. Stay ...

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Crazy Credits

Apart from the movie's name, nothing else is shown in the opening titles.

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Connections

Referenced in Mind Wide Open with Lily Cornell Silver: Harold Owens (2020)

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Soundtracks

Hutu Power Re-visited
Written by Afro Celt Sound System (Simon Emmerson (as Emmerson) / James McNally (as McNally) / Iarla O'Lionaird (as O'Lionaird) / Martin Russell (as Russell))
Published by Real World Music Ltd.
Arranged, produced, engineered & mixed by Martin Russell at Sonic Innovation 2/UK
(p) 2004 Afro Celt Sound System appear courtesy of Real World Records Ltd.

User Reviews

A fantastic and powerful film

I was fortunate to see this film at the Toronto Film Festival. I had heard nothing about this film before I read up on it in the Fest guide and originally was going to see something else. But, the subway happened to shut down and I was not going to be able to see the film I originally intended. So, I decided to give this a try.

And I am so very glad I did.

This film is by far the best drama I have seen all year, and indeed was the best film of the 11 I saw at the festival. It is gripping, heart-wrenching, and opens your eyes to so many things. Don Cheadle -- who I am a long time admirer of his work -- is phenomenal in the lead role, and I hope that he is nominated for Best Actor this year, because he certainly deserves it.

I am recommending this film to everybody I know and I hope that it gets a wide distribution because it certainly is a film that needs to be seen. While comparisons can be made to Schindler's List, I think that this film goes further to show that events like the Holocaust can happen any time -- even now -- so long as people look away, just as the UN did in Rwanda. It certainly makes one think about how easy it is for us to forget our history and allow it to be repeated, because (as one character says) we will watch it on TV, say that it is terrible, and go right on eating our dinner. 10/10

Details

Official Sites:

Metropolitan Filmexport [France] MGM/United Artists [United States]

Country:

UK South Africa Italy USA

Language:

English French Kinyarwanda

Release Date:

4 February 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hotel Rwanda

Filming Locations:

Rwanda

Box Office

Budget:

$17,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$100,091, 26 December 2004

Gross USA:

$23,530,892

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$33,882,243

Company Credits

Production Co:

United Artists, Lions Gate Films, Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1