DVDs this week include the academy award nominated Hotel Rwanda.

Hotel Rwanda is not a movie about the genocidal massacres in Rwanda in 1994, it's about the heroism of an ordinary man in a time of crisis.  This is a film that reminds us that heroes are people who believe they're really just hotel managers, fathers or cooks and their heroism is only invented by necessity at the just the right moment.  Hotel Rwanda is often compared to Schindler's List, but it's a very different film.  Schindler's List took time to remind of some of the inhumanities through gross out scenes, Hotel Rwanda never indulges and instead the inhumanities serve as the backdrop as mood of the city deteriorates in the summer 1994.   Don Cheatle is perhaps one of the finest working actors today, I believe he deserved Academy recognition for his performance in this movie. He plays Paul Rusesabagina, the assistant manager of the Mille Collines a four star Hotel in Kigali, Rwanda. Rusesabagina saved 1200 refugees in the hotel by keeping the employees working and retaining the illusion that the Hotel is an oasis of dignity even as the world around the Hotel descending into madness.  Hotel Rwanda isn’t always an easy movie to watch but it’s a very important movie, one that should be given a chance especially if you’re leery of an overly violent and terribly depressing film.  Director Terry George finds just the right tone to tell an heroic story in a violent and depressing time.  Nick Nolte and Sophie Okonedo play dynamic supporting roles, especially Okonedo as Tatiana Rusesabina, wife of Paul.  She brings the required drama to the role of a woman trying to protect her children but also a certain playfulness as the screenplay required.  Nick Nolte plays a character based on the Canadian officer to the UN Lt. Gen. Roméo Dallaire.  Dallaire himself is another heroic character who sadly can only do too little with too few resources.  The film was released soon after his own book about his experiences in Shake hands with the Devil - The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda.

The DVD commits no great contribution to the art of video transfers but is no less than adequate for the task.  From the opening credits there were visible compression artifacts.  Fortunately the movie is so absorbing that I couldn’t even tell you if such imperfections existed through the rest of the film.  The audio is rich and does a great job at making you feel part of the film.  The distinctly African songs sung by a chorus of children seemed to make the 5.1 system come alive with a cultural texture.  Cheatles haunting “breakdown” sequence where Paul Rusesabagina becomes overwhelmed in a room by himself but struggles to keep his composure before anyone sees was made truly eerie by the dreamy soundtrack that seemed to steal into the room with you from the surrounds.  I can’t emphasize enough the importance of a clear and articulate center channel.  Some secondary voices or dialogue that seems to fade into the background has some interesting while not critical messages about the state of things in Rwanda. You hear chatter at the bar, a radio in the background or a passing statement by minor character all serve to add seemingly realistic little details to the period and events.

Special features.  There is plenty of footage of the real Paul Rusesabagina recounting events and revisiting the sites in Rwanda in the "A Message for Peace: Making Hotel Rwanda" documentary.  His accent is a bit difficult to discern at times but it’s nice to see the real man placed up front and staring in his own feature.  I also listened to some of the commentary and if you’re interested in current events, history or sociology it’s all intensely interesting.