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Capone gets bowled over by HOTEL RWANDA!!!
SPOILER ALERT !!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with Capone, the viscious gangster up in Chicago-town, and his opinion of the Don Cheadle starrer HOTEL RWANDA. Our very own Mr. Beaks interviewed Mr. Cheadle about this film and from everything I've heard it seems like an amazing piece of cinema. I can't wait to see it. Here's Capone with juicy details!
I feel like I've seen 100 movies in the past two weeks. The screenings have been coming in such rapid succession, there just hasn't been time to write about any of them. MILLION DOLLAR BABY seemed to sneak up out of nowhere and move grown men to tears. I had a lot of fun watching SPANGLISH, a film that will introduce you to some fine young talents as well as hopefully change the way you look at a few comedy veterans. Pedro Almodovar officially becomes one of the great storytellers of our time with BAD EDUCATION, a whirling, winding string of stories that is as hard-hitting as it is delicate. I also caught the Dennis Quaid, Topher Grace, Scarlet Johansson vehicle IN GOOD COMPANY from writer-director Paul Weitz. With three very likeable leads, the film is a little light on the dramatic tension, but this tale of a top-level sales exec (Quaid) having his job and daughter (the never-more-beautiful Johansson) usurped by a young upstart corporate tool (Grace) still has some poignant things to say about how the fast-paced business world treats its over-40 employees. I found it a pleasant, if not all that challenging, viewing experience. But the film I'm really hear to talk about is one that, as far as I can tell, hasn't been touched by this site yet. That's a bit shocking, but I'm here to change that.
I'll admit that before the film won the People's Choice Award at this year's Toronto Film Festival, I'd never heard of HOTEL RWANDA, and I'm guessing that many of youhaven't heard much if anything about it. That will change in the coming week or so. HOTEL RWANDA is the kind of film that people are going to discover is a slow but steady way. It's the kind of film that you will find yourself begging others to see for fear that not enough eyes will see it, and not enough people will talk about it. And if you weren't already a member of the Church of Don Cheadle, HOTEL RWANDA will feel like a calling. Cheadle has existed in and out of Hollywood as one of the finest character actors of his generation, breathing life into characters in good and bad movie that few veterans supporting players could have done much with. Stealing every scene away from Denzel Washington in DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS, Cheadle just kept winning us over with roles in BOOGIE NIGHTS, BULWORTH, HBO's THE RAT PACK, THE FAMILY MAN, SWORDFISH, MANIC, and Steven Soderbergh's films OUT OF SIGHT, TRAFFIC, OCEAN'S ELEVEN and TWELVE. These aren't all great films, but Cheadle is great in them. If you want a prime example of the power of Cheadle, go see AFTER THE SUNSET. It's a sub-par film, but Cheadle is mesmerizing in it.
With HOTEL RWANDA, Cheadle is fully the lead, playing real-life hero Paul Rusesabagina, the highest-ranking African manager at a Belgian-owned luxury hotel in Rwanda just before bloody civil war tore the country apart. Paul is a member of the Hutu tribe, a group that had long be oppressed in Rwanda by the country's other tribe, the Tutsi. But about 10 years ago, the Hutus literally started a revolution in which they killing every man, woman, and child they could get their hands on. Not all Hutus took part in the killings, but you were a Tutsi, you're life was at risk. Before the civil unrest, Paul's mission in life was to maintain the highest standards of the hotel no matter what. He cut deals with military leaders to acquire the finest food, alcohol, and cigars for his V.I.P. guests, he treats dignitaries visiting the hotel like royalty, while still being a kind and sometimes overly forgiving boss to his employees. As the first rumbling of trouble surface, peacekeepers from the United Nations arrive, led by Canadian Col. Oliver (Nick Nolte). But his hands are tied since the U.N. can't shoot unless it is being shot at, which means as long as it's not the peacekeepers getting chopped up by machetes, they can't do a thing. Although Paul himself is not in danger, his Tutsi wife and family are, so he hides them in the hotel hoping that help will eventually come and he can get them out of the country safely. The tourists have all fled, and when words spreads that the hotel is housing Tutsi refugees, hundreds more Tutsis arrive looking for protection. During this time, Rusesabagina took in more than 1000 refugees with nothing more than his reputation and his connections in Rwanda and Belgium.
HOTEL RWANDA is a harrowing story with more tension and close calls than any purely fictional film I've seen recently. Since Rusesabagina is currently touring the United States promoting this film, I'm not ruining anything by telling you his fate, which isn't to say that all of the characters we meet survive this ordeal. In his own way, Paul was like Oskar Schindler. He wasn't necessarily trying to be any great humanitarian through his actions, but the alternative would have lead to unspeakable suffering and bloodshed. Irish director- co-writer Terry George (perhaps best known for his screenplays for IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, THE BOXER, and HART'S WAR) handles the material to perfection, letting the story simply unfold rather than add flourishes or forced drama.
And then there's the almighty Cheadle, whose performance here is subtle, understated, but so focused and masterful that you don't even see him working. He has a quiet desperation in his eyes for most of the film that puts us right in his shoes. We know that look and we are right there with him through ever obstacle in keeping these people safe. I actually saw HOTEL RWANDA about a month ago and have been sitting with it in my head since then. There are dozens of scene I remember so vividly, like I'd seen them yesterday. And at the center of it all, is a performance by Don Cheadle that will stay with me well past award season. HOTEL RWANDA isn't splashy or melodramatic or wildly edited. Instead, it is simple, untouched perfection that tells one of the most compelling human dramas in recent memory.
Capone
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...that I have to wait until January 7th to see this film. It looked pretty damn good. I can't wait.
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Dec 22, 2004 6:31:09 AM CST
African tribes killing other African tribes - who would have tho
by vikingkitty
To roughly paraphrase P.J. O'Rourke: "Watching warlords killing each other over a sandbox is great fun. It's almost as fun as watching the entire Mexican airforce crash into a fuel refinery."
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to put this film into your site.
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Dec 22, 2004 7:38:51 AM CST
Great, a quote from PJ O'Rourke, the guy who actually said "Heh,
by shiva
Sometimes the sheer lack of humanity on the part of some of the talkbackers here actually gets to you.
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he sucks in the Ocean's films, maybe being a Brit I just can't get over the accent. Every scene he is in is just cringe inducing.
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I think it's supposed to be bad on purpose. There's a great in-joke in "Twelve" where Cheadle is coaching Julia Roberts on the inmportance of getting as accent right. Funny Stuff. Oh, by the way, Cheadle is a great actor. I can't wait for his debut as director of Elmore Leonard's "Tishomingo Blues."
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This is a film worth championing - http://www.tailslate.net/reviews/film/reviews.asp?ID=70
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the canadian general in charge of the UN forces in rwanda. he witnessed thousands killed around him while the UN refused to give him the men or support needed to protect the Tutsis. he said all he needed was 5,000 soldiers but was refused. the bangladeshi and pakistani UN troops hid in their barracks and refused to come out; the belgians lost 10 men then pulled out completely. he was ordered to pull out but stayed hoping to do what he could. the US could have stopped the whole massacre by spending US$8,000 to jam the airwaves (the call to slaughter the Tutsis was done over the airwaves). in the end when he left, a million people had been slaughtered. d'allaire went back to canada and had a nervous breakdown. he was found under a bench in a park at which point they realized he had lost it completely... another UN mission gone sour...
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I'm going to see this. Oh, and they are not called "tribes" they are ethic groups. Tribes existed in Native America...not in Africa. And another thing...Europeans and Americans killing other brown people and Americans killing other Americans are just as common so I guess you want to rethink that little comment about African "tribes" killing other African "tribes" comment.
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To claim that jamming airwaves would have stopped tribal genocide is stupid. Mass bloodshed of this level does not start or stop on one call over the airwaves. It is a result of deeply held hatreds, starting like an avalanche and carrying forward on its own momentum. Jamming airwaves doesn't stop it. Could the US have stopped it? Possibly - with an allocation of troops and military equipment and the determination to put soldiers lives at risk in order to accomplish the mission. The question of whether or not the US should be using its military for situations such as Rwanda is more complex, but worth discussing. Just please don't throw out an idiotic statement that the US could have stopped the Rwandan genocide by jamming a radio broadcast.
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Glad to see that your sense of empathy is still flourishing. Asshole.
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...well said. This does look like a great movie, and I'm certain Cheadle can carry the role and the film. It was only a matter of time before someone realized it and started giving him the lead. I have to say my favorite role of his in a strictly entertainment sense is still Snoop in Out of Sight. "A situation like this has a high potentiality for the common motherfucker to bitch out."
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is the freakin MAN!!!!!!!!!! It's about time he gets some props!
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..I wouldn't go see one of his films if you paid me to...You might as well go ahead and support the KKK if you would put money in Spike's pockets...they are all doing the same thing, just with different targets.
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..I wouldn't go see one of his films if you paid me to...You might as well go ahead and support the KKK if you would put money in Spike's pockets...they are all doing the same thing, just with different targets.
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...who cares if Cheadle isn't good in them...that's like saying that you care if he was good in the train wreck that was Mission To Mars. He's been great in some good and great movies, which is what counts....the mofo rules.
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Excuse the typos/false posts below..they are the result of limitations in Roboform and this site's design and lack of post editing capabilties. P.S. Cheadle is the bomb.
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But at least PJ makes money off his dick-ness.
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Yeah, genocide is a terrible thing. But as soon as I heard about this movie, I knew what to expect. Somehow, the blame was going to be placed upon England or American. And sure enough, National Geographic News's review of this movie states, "The primary cause of the conflict, referred to in the film, can be traced back to European colonialism." Whatever. There's no problem in the world that apparenlty can't be blamed on sucessful civilizations. It's NEVER due to the fact that some civilizations are a joke, and the world would be better off without them anyway. It's NEVER due to the fact that they're so unstable, they've changed constitutions three times in the time it took me to type this sentence. I feel sorry for the innocent civilians that get caught up in these messes, but what can be done? Until they people of these shit holes are willing to adopt a civilized culture, these things are going to happen.
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Yeah, genocide is a terrible thing.(Really? I'm glad somebody finally set the record straight on that issue.) But as soon as I heard about this movie, I knew what to expect.(Here we go, angry white person rhetoric about to follow...) Somehow, the blame was going to be placed upon England or American.(Because we, as leaders of the world, have nothing to do with the bad things that are going on and also are without the means to do more to help other nations.) And sure enough, National Geographic News's review of this movie states, "The primary cause of the conflict, referred to in the film, can be traced back to European colonialism."(Wait a minute, you mean you didn't actually see the movie? You just read a review? That's research for ya!) Whatever.(Yeah, whatever.) There's no problem in the world that apparenlty can't be blamed on sucessful civilizations.(What are successful civilizations? The ones with the most white people?) It's NEVER due to the fact that some civilizations are a joke,(the ones with the niggers) and the world would be better off without them anyway.(Sieg heil!) It's NEVER due to the fact that they're so unstable, they've changed constitutions three times in the time it took me to type this sentence.(Shit, that's pretty fucking fast.) I feel sorry for the innocent civilians that get caught up in these messes, but what can be done?(Where there's a will, there's a way. If you really wanted to do something about it you would. Or at least you'd take the time to think of a way.) Until they people of these shit holes are willing to adopt a civilized culture,(Sieg heil der fuhrer!) these things are going to happen.(Wow, that sure was alot of anger! Maybe if you played some GTA3 you could get that anger out in a more constructive way. I know, those liberal oppressors can be hard on you sometimes.)
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The wit and deep thought that clearly went into your screenname is matched only by your understanding of politics and human nature.
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No, fuck you, vikingkitty. Attributing the origins of the Hutu-Tutsi conflict to colonialism is accurate. That doesn't mean that the blame for the genocide falls on anyone else but the people who committed it. Your shallow, hands-off, cavalier attitude toward Rwanda and what happened there is as idiotic and simplistic as saying that America could have prevented the atrocity by "blocking radio transmissions." In earlier talkbacks you've advocated the complete annihilation of all muslims in the world so I suppose we shouldn't expect any opinions of weight from your vacuuous noggin.
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you may be right, devil. that the US could have stopped the massacre by jamming the airwaves wasn't my assessment, but the canadian general's. (sorry, i realize this isn't clear in my message). he also said that with 5,000 men he could have stopped the whole massacre, as the forces on the Hutu side were only armed with screwdrivers, knives, etc. the UN disagreed and ordered him to pull out. A year later they did an assessment of the situation and concluded the d'allaire, the man on the ground, was right. they probably could have stopped the massacre with a very small force. Remember too, for the airwaves issue, that rwanda isn't densely populated like NY city; people are scattered in remote villages. without the radio most of them wouldn't have heard the call to slay their neighbours... it's not unreasonable that jamming the airwaves would have put a stop to the whole thing. but the US refused to interfere so we'll never know what might have happened.
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What are the hallmarks of a "successful civilation?" How do you know if your civilation is successful? Well, the answer is quite simple...Wallmart
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So that misspellings for words like "civilization" are not permanantly plastered for all of eternity, Harry, grrr.
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Dec 23, 2004 10:43:27 AM CST
Vikingkitte (sp?) that is simply the most ignorant shit I ever r
by lost skeleton
I mean really, besides the inherent racism in your comment,your take on this movie and Rwanda shows real ignorance on your part. I don't mean you are stupid, just that your lack of understanding about the world around you is typical of most Americans (i.e. why we can't figure out why the middle-east hates us and why Iraq is still a mess.) The fact is, Europeaon colonization is indirectly responsible for the ethnic tensions in Rwanda. It was common for Europeaon nations to seperate and favor certain ethnic groups over other ethnic groups in order to control the country. As long as one group was favored over the other...it would be easier for the Eurpoean nations to rule that area (You also see the effects of this in Iraq) America's problem and the problem with American foriegn policy is that we either (1) refuse to understand the core issues or (2) naively believe that after years of ethnic and ingrained hatred some how Jeffersonian democracy can come in a wash all the sins of our fathers away. That just shows a real lack of thought on our part. Hell, America hasn't figured out what to do with the existing Black/White dicotomy (sp?) here at home. So, the causes of the genocide in Rwanda as well as the tensions in other third world nations across the globe can be attributed to European colonisim and American/Soviet foreign policy...this is a fact. To your credit, the Germans, French, Dutch, etc. are also to blame; however, the Europeans are beginning to understand their role in the destablization of the third world while certain forces (the neoconservatives) seem destined to repeat it.
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Rupee88, are you the clown who always write this nonsense comparing Spike Lee with the KKK or are there just numerous retards on this site who write the same crap over and over again? You know Lee may be a jackass but he has a ways to go before getting to the level of the KKK. As far as I can tell Lee has never resorted to murder or terrorism against a group of people of a different race. He has never bribed goverment officials and businesses to impose his way of thinking on society. He doesn't have a 150 year history of intimidation and using scare tactics. He has never called for a race war or tried to promote the idea that other races outside of his own are subhuman. He has never tried to segregate schools, hospitals or places of work. He has never had a network of individuals working in secret in powerful positions of authority to change American policy and rules of law. He has never been investigated by the American government as a result of being a threat to the American way of life. He has never been convicted of any criminal activity. This type of ignorance on yours and others part to even compare Lee to the KKK demonstrate a severe absence of both education and common sense. Spare us your ignorance and overall insensitivity. You don't like Lee? Poor baby. How horrible it must be that the Big Bad Lee upsets you so because he brings up race and has the audacity to discuss the racism that exists in this world. Get over yourself already. Spike Lee ain't Hitler. I don't think he is a racist, he's just an asshole. An opinionated asshole who often doesn't think before he speaks. Yes, he can be annoying and sometimes his opinions stink. But instead of comparing him to the KKK why don't you get real and compare him to numerous white people in Hollywood who may have the same prejudices towards non whites as you think Lee has towards white people. But save the KKK comparisons. A lot of black people in the past who have had their homes firebombed by KKK thugs would have likely preferred instead that all the KKK made their lives "miserable" by giving often ill informed opinions to entertainment magazines in between making so-so motion pictures.
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Actually, I wrote that once on a Spike Lee thread and Roboform saved it along with my username and pw for when I login to the Talkbacks. Unfortunately, sometimes I accidentally press enter and it is posted before I can erase it and type more relevant information. And there is no "edit post" on this superbly designed site, so it has to stay there. But it is my mistake, and I didn't mean to post the Spike Lee stuff except once about a year or two ago.
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