Hotel Rwanda, 2004 ★★★★★

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.

Hotel Rwanda is a powerful movie, without showing blood and gore. The world stood by in silence as genocide took a heavy toll in Rwanda in 1994. The movie highlights the story of Paul Rusesabagina's solitary struggle against the brutal killing forces of Hutu militia. But it hardly was the story of a country torn apart by civil war or intensity of hate against your fellow mates. The world turned its back on Rwanda and selfishly evacuated its citizens and left hapless Rwandans (even those employed at their embassies and missions) at the mercy of the merciless Hutu.

President Clinton, still under the shock of the Mogadishu (Somalia) tragedy, did not send American troops to stop the massacre. The situation just went from bad to worse as the so-called powerful nations abandoned the little nation. The United Nations was at its lethargic and complacent best when it spend precious days debating on defining the event as a genocide.

"...the use of the term 'genocide' has a very precise legal meaning, although it's not strictly a legal determination. There are other factors in there as well."
- State Department spokesperson Christine Shelley

The killings continued unabated and only after the dust had settled, it was clear that more than 800,000 Rwandans lay dead. The attempted ethnic cleansing of the Tutsi - Leave none to tell the story - can at best be described as bone chilling. The near death experience of people can leave you shuddering and thank your stars that you never lived in such hellholes (although our communal riots come close).

One line in the movie stood out, as the protagonist Paul urged a journalist to broadcast the ghastly images on television around the world and shame the world to send help. The journalist replied, "No one gives a shit, they will simply say that its horrible and go about eating their dinner". Apathy definitely hurts more than wrongful actions because it is good people who are usually apathetic. The undercurrents of a "divide and rule" policy employed by the Belgians during the colonial rule by classifying the Hutu as superior to the Tutsi people is subtly evident throughout the movie.

Go watch the movie.