Review of Hotel Rwanda

This is an excellent film, about a real, live hero. It could have gone over the edge into a really bad snuff movie - but it balances out the history with the story, so that you look away, but you look back.

The Joachim Phoenix character - the journalist - pretty much epitomises the 'western' journey through the story - from 'so what is the story, anyways?' to 'how the hell did *I* end up *here*' to 'okay - so why has this never happened to my family? and how do I guarantee it won't?'

And there are no easy answers. Not one.

The saddest thing about this movie? I've read one review, by someone I respected right up until that moment, saying - and this is a paraphrase - 'well, but it's not like the holocaust happened again, because, you know, 'never again' meant 'worthwhile people', and didn't refer, in any way, to, well... Africans'.

And this was someone who'd watched the film, and really believed they respected the message behind it - but, hey, Schindler's list had all of that, *and* like, a *white* star...

Okay - so maybe that's not the saddest thing about the whole film, but it sure made me cry.

Came as a huge shock to me, I have to say...