Film analysis of Hotel Rwanda and the 1994 genocide

The movie highlights the events that happened during the Rwanda 1994 genocide that saw over one million souls lost. The ethnic hatred between the Hutus and Tutsi is clearly depicted when the massacre begins. This was triggered by the assassination of the Rwandan president who was a Hutu. This sparked a flame that was not to be extinguished until 100 days later and over a million lives lost. It is one of the worst massacres in the 21st century but in the movie, only a part of it is depicted and we are going to analyze it fully. Paul decided to stay and help his people. This art of self-sacrifice is unheard of but does happen since his guilty conscience could not allow him to do this. In a time of war, there are heroes amongst us and this was the depiction of this scene. Film Review of Hotel Rwanda The political turmoil and unrest in the country had boiled over and was sparked by the assassination of their president. This made the Hutus angry and vowed to kill all Tutsis. The emotions in the movie were heart-rending and disturbing yet a clear depiction of what really happened. The Hutus were the aggressors and the Tutsi the victims and the death, hatred, and politics that led up to this boiled the militia and even civilians into unwarranted killings that left the country divided and wounded (David Keller, 2010). The movie reminds viewers of how the events were in 1994, the interpretations of events and analysis of what the movie depicted what actually happened at the time of the genocide.
In the movie, the main character Paul Rusesabagina is a hotelier in the Rwandan capital and is a Hutu, married to a Tutsi wife. He has amassed wealth and is one of the most influential people in the capital. Devoid of all the ethnic hate and politics, he soared among the Hutus and Tutsi elite and managed to build a good life for himself and his family. This bliss was cut short by the eruption of the genocide clashes. He had to protect his family from the killings since he had crossed the ethnic borderline of marrying an ‘enemy’. His hotel was turned into a refugee camp and he was forced to bribe and steer the Hutu militia and soldiers away from the people in the hotel. There were foreigners and many other tribes in the hotel and he took it upon himself to protect them all. It is an inspirational film at the same time disturbing since it shows the dark moment of the genocide, the suffering, and chaos but also showed hope of rescue when Paul decided to house all the foreigners in his hotel and protect them (George, 2004).
Interesting themes come up in the event of the movie depicting the massacre. Self-reliance as a nature of force. The United Nations declined to interfere, just like neighboring nations watched as the two tribes slaughtered each other. The Rwandese people were declined visas to travel out of the country, but the foreigners were flown out to their various countries. However, Paul decided to help the Rwandese people seek refuge until all hell broke loose, but he held his foot down. The second theme is everything has a price tag. Paul and his family were influential in society and thus held favor over other civilians by merit of being close to politicians. The moment the killings started, he bribed the army and militia whom he knew personally and his hotel continued to run normally. This was the epitome of impunity but he had to do whatever it took to save his family and the outcome was that his family emerged safely from the genocide (Manuel, 2018).
The setting of the film depicts the difference in political classes, ethnic divide, and corruption in African or rather third world countries. In terms of class, the opening scene shows Paul and Dube, a worker of Tutsi descent. Paul is telling him about style. In contemporary African style, the dressing was a symbol of dignity but the European way of dressing and fashion depicted class and wealth. Paul was a wealthy man and it is depicted in his dressing but Dube was not thus the style lesson (David Keller, 2010). The minute detail of the scene shows the bigger picture of envy among the have-nots towards the haves. Paul could have been genuine about the style lesson and wanting his friend to dress well but Dube might have taken it as him being looked down on. The reasoning at this point is difficult since the political situation in the country made everyone delusional and defensive in every argument and this must have eventually led to the massacre in 1994.
The filmmaker intended to showcase all these aspects in the society at that time that might have led to unforeseen violence. The setup of the hotel, the guests and the other people in the movie all played a role in ensuring all the themes in the movie are clearly depicted. When he had a chance to leave with his family and go abroad, Paul decided to stay and help his people. This art of self-sacrifice is unheard of but does happen since his guilty conscience could not allow him to do this. In a time of war, there are heroes amongst us and this was the depiction of this scene. The political turmoil and unrest in the country had boiled over and was sparked by the assassination of a leader. This made the Hutus angry and vowed to kill all Tutsis. The emotions in the movie were heart-rending and disturbing yet a clear depiction of what really happened.
The major issues that emerged from this movie with reference to the Rwanda genocide were political corruption, ethnic hatred, and class difference. The most notable issue was the ethnic divide which ensured that the people remained divided and never saw eye to eye. When they used the phrase “cut down all the trees” referring to Tutsis as trees, it showed extreme hatred for the other tribe and this was just enough to spark a war that left millions of people dead. However, in the movie, the picture of hatred was not analyzed deeply and seemed superficial and also the refusal by the United Nations to interfere was inaccurate. Despite this oversight, the overall movie was inspiring and disturbing at the same time.
In conclusion, ethnic clashes in most countries are a result of political corruption and power. The politicians are greedy enough to want power for themselves but do not care about the collateral damage. They can insight the civilians to kill each other for their political causes and this makes them powerful. Business elites contribute to the gap between the rich and the poor and they too precipitate issues in the country. The movie highlighted the events that happened during the Rwanda 1994 genocide that saw over one million souls lost. The ethnic hatred between the Hutus and Tutsi was clearly depicted when the massacre began and this was the whole theme of the movie up to when it ended and the fate of the Rwandese people was the same scenario in 1994.

References David Keller, S. A. (2010). Understanding Hotel Rwanda: A reception study. Memory studies, 344-363. George, T. (Director). (2004). Hotel Rwanda [Motion Picture]. Manuel, K. (2018, November). Hotel Rwanda film analysis. Retrieved from UK essays: https://www.ukessays.com/essays/history/movie-critic-hotel-ruanda-history-essay.php?vref=1