Movies: Hotel Rwanda

While sick at home from the flu last week, I dusted off the Netflix envelope that had gotten buried.

I put into the DVD player, Hotel Rwanda.

It was a film that showed the evil of humanity but also inspirational in how Paul Rusesabagina (played by Don Cheadle) managed to find ways to save lives in such a desperate situation.

The backdrop of the film is about the Rwandan genocide of 1994 when it is estimated that 800,000 people were killed in 100 days. For a backgrounder, check out this item from BBC News. The specific story line followed Paul Rusesabagina, the hotel manager of Hotel des Mille Collines, a luxury hotel in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda, and how he was able to turn the hotel into a haven for over a thousand refugees from the genocide.

One might wonder, how can 800,000 die in a third world country? What kind of technology would be available to kill that many people?


image source: http://www.rudyfoto.com/machete.html

Though many died from gunfire, most were killed by machete.