Hotel Rwanda
Tensions between the Hutu and Tutsi peoples lead to a civil war in Rwanda, where corruption and bribes between politicians are routine. Paul Rusesabagina (Cheadle), the manager of the Sabena owned Hôtel des Mille Collines, is Hutu, but his wife Tatiana (Okonedo), is Tutsi. His marriage is a source of friction with Hutu extremists, most prominently Georges Rutaganda (Kae-Kazim), a friendly goods supplier to the hotel who is also the local leader of Interahamwe, a brutal Hutu militia.
As the political situation in the country worsens following the assassination of the president, Paul and his family observe neighbors being killed, initiating the early stages of a genocide. Paul curries favor with people of influence, bribing them with money and alcohol, seeking to maintain sufficient influence to keep his family safe. When civil war erupts and a Rwandan Army officer threatens Paul and his neighbors, Paul barely negotiates their safety, and brings them to the hotel. More evacuees arrive at the hotel from the overburdened UN refugee camp, the Red Cross, and various orphanages. Paul must divert the Hutu soldiers, care for the refugees, be a source of strength to his family, and maintain the appearance of a functioning hotel as the situation becomes more violent.
The UN Peacekeeping forces, led by Canadian Colonel Oliver (Nolte), are unable to take assertive action against the Interahamwe since they are forbidden to intervene in the genocide. The foreign nationals are evacuated, but the Rwandans are left behind. When the UN forces attempt to evacuate a group of refugees, including Paul's family, they are ambushed and must turn back. In a last-ditch effort to save the refugees, Paul pleads with the Rwandan Army General, Augustin Bizimungu (Mokoena) for assistance. However, when Paul's bribes no longer work, he blackmails the General with threats of being tried as a war criminal. Soon after, the family and the hotel refugees are finally able to leave the besieged hotel in a UN convoy. They travel through retreating masses of refugees and militia to reach safety behind Tutsi rebel lines.
The film's epilogue displays a series of graphics stating that Rusesabagina saved 1,268 Rwandan refugees at the Hôtel des Mille Collines, and now lives in Belgium with his family. It notes that Rutaganda and General Bizimungu were tried and convicted by the UN for war crimes in 2002, while also conveying the genocide that ended in July 1994 left almost a million people dead.
mystery, cruelty, murder, depressing, dramatic, violence, good versus evil, tragedy, romantic, historical