Hotel Rwanda

I chose not to see Hotel Rwanda when it came out. My dad had passed away very recently, and I knew I wouldn't be able to handle it. I was right. If I had seen it then, it would have messed up my entire month. But I waited until I was stronger, and I saw it just now. Wow. I'm glad I waited, but I'm glad I saw it.

This is a movie about the genocide of the Tutsis by the Hutus in Rwanda, and this one guy trying to keep Tutsi refugees alive in the four-star hotel he manages. Sort of an African Schindler's List, if you will. After the first 15-20 minutes (exposition and such), the entire movie is an "Oh, crap, what's going to happen now?" moment. I've seen a lot of films where I wasn't sure how things were going to turn out, and I genuinely feared for the characters, but this one put all the rest of them to shame. It's sort of the difference between "How the heck are they gonna get out of this now?" and "Holy crap. There's nothing they can do. They're all hosed." It was a very intense movie, filled with fantastic acting. I can't say I'd recommend it for everyone, as some might be put off by the fact that real people can behave this way to other real people, and others wouldn't be able to stomach the horror that this guy and his family are going through. But if you feel up to the challenge, I demand that you see this film.