Hotel Rwanda (2004) | Review

Radical Hospitality

Jacob Sahms

Seven years ago, I was blown away by the story of Paul Rusesabagina, the hotel manager who ended up providing refuge to over a thousand of the Tutsi people in the midst of a brutal civil war. Played by Don Cheadle, Rusesabagina and his story grabbed the attention of people all over the world, showing how media can garner even more attention than real life. In the midst of my own growing interest in another pro-peace movement in Africa, Invisible Children, I was moved by the story of this crazy hotel: a place where people on the run found real safety.

If you haven't seen Hotel Rwanda, you need to, now. It's a story of great hope, as Rusesabagina's bravery reached colossal heights. Even though he was a member of the other tribe, the Hutu, his wife was a Tutsi, and therefore there was a death sentence hanging over her head and the heads of their children. While Rusesabagina tried to stay neutral, and in the middle of everything, playing all sides, he's finally forced in the depiction by Terry George to make decisions and take a stand, providing hospitality to people who are unwelcome and unworthy in the eyes of his countrymen.

Like the Biblical queen Esther, who first tried to stay neutral and out of the way, Rusesabagina is forced to consider that he is not removed from what is happening. He finds himself in a position where he must act: either he takes a stand and saves lives, or he chooses not to take a stand and people he knows and loves will die. Hotel Rwanda remains me of the unlikely hero Esther, and the beauty and truth of Martin Niemoller's quote:

First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak outbecause I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Listening to the documentaries and the interviews, first "A Message for Peace: Making Hotel Rwanda" and "Return to Rwanda," you can't help but be compelled as director George and chief actor Cheadle were. You can't help but be moved by the stories of the people who were damaged and forever scarred but who surprised. Watching the real life Ruseabagina, you can't help but notice that he is a more normal, ordinary man, who made a difference in an underground railroad of his own. It's beautiful to watch the return, to see the beauty of those who survived, to see how the man himself is greeted for the heroism he showed. And a swimming pool has never looked so beautiful.

Watching Hotel Rwanda, I can't help but think that first-time viewers will be stunned to hear the commentary provided by those involved on this first-time Blu-ray. The story is moving in its own right, but hearing it this way, it's sheerly overwhelming. Understanding our role in the world today takes on whole new meaning: What are we missing? What are we ignoring? As people of faith who read this, are we creating places of worship where people can take refuge and find a "safe place" that is more than something in name only, but a real, living and breathing organism that exhibits the love of our Creator God?

If only we would display such radical hospitality when given the opportunity.