A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics
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A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics | |
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February 04, 2005Hotel RwandaAs this is a political blog, we don't normally do movie reviews. But I recommend you all see Hotel Rwanda, a movie opening nationwide. Don Cheadle has been nominated for Best Actor, and it's a terrific performance well worthy of an Oscar. Be warned though; this is not a movie to enjoy with the whole family. In a nutshell, the movie is a Schindler's List of the Rwandan genocide. Cheadle plays one of the "moderate Hutus" who put his life at risk by not cooperating with the radical Hutus who were committing the genocide. Instead, he sheltered more than 1000 people in the Belgian-owned hotel which he managed, and used his influence and bribery to keep these people alive until they could be evacuated. The movie speaks directly to the issue of military intervention, or the lack thereof, in another country for the purpose of saving lives. As such, it is relevant to discussions we've had on this blog over the last. year. It is striking that these events happened only a few years ago, and yet the world did almost nothing to prevent it. The Clinton Administration, having been unnerved by the death of 18 military personnel in Somalia, had no appetite for another humanitarian intervention in Africa. Rwanda is an obscure, far off country. There is a tendency to this about it, "who cares?" Hotel Rwanda makes you care. Posted by rickheller at February 4, 2005 08:27 AMComments
Part of me wants to see this movie and part of me doesn't. My parents were caught in the middle of the Rwandan horror. They've told me their experiences and it's chilling to say the least. Horrific is really a better word for it. That they dealt with it, emotionally, as well as they did is to me a testiment to their deep faith. I've heard of war veterans exposed to similar attrocities who never ever fully recovered. I might have to blog on this too. If I do, I'll post an interview that the Oregonian newspaper did with my parents right after they got back to the States. Posted by: Kevin at February 4, 2005 10:51 AMI didn't know that Kevin. I hope you blog about it. While we're making political movie recommendations, the Fog of War is excellent. Posted by: Scott at February 4, 2005 10:55 AMYeah, if you search the somewhere around the second week of NYCO's "100 Days of Rwanda" blog, I posted the Oregonian piece as a comment. I went back and tried to find it a while back, but gave up after fruitlessly searching for about half an hour. It's there somewhere. Much easier to just repost it, though. Posted by: Kevin at February 4, 2005 12:00 PMI'd love to read it too. If you do find the article, please repost it. Posted by: Will at February 4, 2005 03:55 PMThe officer in the movie, Colonel Oliver, is based partially on the head of the UN mission in Rwanda at the time, Romeo Dallaire. The movie (so I read, I haven't seen it yet but plan to) doesn't portray Colonel Oliver in a very good light, or at least with respect to the stories I've heard about Dallaire. Dallaire has released a book of his own, Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda, a monstrous volume (584 pages) of his experience there. From what I gather (again, I haven't read it, but plan to), he became aware of the genocide plan in advance, but his superiors in New York told him to not take any action, even while people were being killed around them. He returned from Rwanda, devastated emotionally by the experience and began to abuse alcohol and even attempted to commit suicide. Since then, he's recovered to tell his story, and in the book he places the blame of the genocide on the UN (for their unwillingness to take any action) and on the Western governments for ignoring what was happening. A documentary of Dallaire's trip back to Rwanda 10 years later recently won an award at the Sundance Film Festival. Posted by: mitch at February 4, 2005 04:00 PMFor my money Don Cheadle's performance was head and shoulders above any other actor. Jamie Foxx will win, and in any other year that would have been fine. This year it will be a shame. The film itself is remarkable. But the point of the film is not "look how terrrible Rwanda was...dont you feel awful?? Feel awful dammit!" Its more about the characters, and their striving for survival, yes, but also common moral human decency in a world gone mad. Posted by: Iconic Midwesterner at February 4, 2005 04:10 PMFascinating, Mitch. Thanks for the post. Posted by: Scott at February 4, 2005 04:10 PMThanks, Will. I will do a backtrack to this post when I get it up. Right now I'm waiting for a call back from the Oregonian seeking permission to repost it. Does anyone here happen to know if I need their permission? The article was published in 1994. Is there something like a statue of limitations that frees up reposting rights after 10 years? I'm wondering if that's why they haven't called me back. I left a message with the guy in charge of this kinda stuff saying when the article was originally published. Could he just be shining it on 'cause I don't need their permission? As soon as I feel free to repost it, I'll put it up at Indie Castle and you'll see the trackback show up here. Posted by: Kevin at February 4, 2005 04:24 PM |
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