Reflection on Hotel Rwanda
Film and cinema production has been recently in the rise having improved technology over the years. This has been one of the trending factors in the music industry. Movie production in the 19th century was low and due to the lack of efficient technology to aid in production of films. Many individuals watch films with the main aim of getting entertained but today there are films which are considered to be educative, provide warning, as well as reflecting on what is trending in the society. This paper would focus and look at the film Hotel Rwanda.
The film Hotel Rwanda is a film that was released in 2004 and it was directed by George Terry. The film is all about the events that took place in Rwanda in 1994 and these events were real life. The main reason as to why this film captured my attention and became of great interest to me is due to the fact that it is all about a rescue from the Rwandan Genocide ravages. It looks at different aspects that citizens may be victims of such as political corruption, genocide, and the effects of violence. The film is a representation of the genocide attacks that occurred in Rwanda. The tension that existed between the Tutsi and the Hutu people resulted into the emergence of the war.
These fighting went on for a while and it took the support of the UN army to contain this situation. However, the United Nations peacekeeping keeping army was not in a position to take firm action against the spread of interhamwe because it was not allowed to interfere with the genocide. During this period the people from other nations were evacuated from the war prone area as the Rwandese were left behind to be consumed by the war. Even when the United Nations forces tried to rescue a group of refugees, they were ambushed and hence had to go back.
The main bone of contention portrayed in the film is tribal clashes which were brought by a raised amount of tension between the Tutsi and Hutu and the tension was stirred by bribes as well as increased corruption which was a usual routine. The film vividly shows how dirty politics can lead to heated violence with ethnic grounds. The film becomes of interest to many due to the factual aspects it brings up i.e. the genocide and heated violence. One gets a vivid insight of the reasons behind why there is violence in a couple of African countries and as such one gets more informed on such issues.
This film is based on historical events that did actually happen in Rwanda. This is why I was much interested in the film since it reflected the genres that I like most i.e. historical and realistic. The genre of history usually focuses on presenting something that truly happened in the past i.e. something realistic. They try to give us a picture of how a situation is and they are cast on the basis of the stories that are told by survivors and victims of a particular situation. This genre usually involves special memories and wars that took place in the past. They serve as a teaching for those who live in the present as they would be able to visualize the intensity of such things as wars and tribalism and as such people would stay away from them.
The Film Hotel Rwanda falls under this category due to the fact that it represents a realistic past of what really aspired in the Rwandese Genocide. The portrayals of the film serve as warning of the consequences that individuals would face due to tribal animosities which lead to wars as well as poor leadership. Additionally, the film also acts as a reminder of the real event that actually took place. Therefore, every generation will be reminded of what happened to its ancestors. This will act as a deterrent for such a generation to indulge in a conflict within its borders. Additionally, the film will also act as binder of the two communities. They would not want to experience again what was experienced during that time.
It takes a lot to create such a film that depicts the reality but films that are in this genre provide a lot of information as compared to films of other genre. Realism is a genre that has been adopted by many movies that deal with issues that are of huge concern to the society and as such, it is an important aspect to the society as a whole when it comes to films. These movies have several things in common. One is that they are based on true history and secondly, they portray the effects that one would face if they practiced the events shown in the movie for example tribal wars. On the other hand, one of the genres that I dislike most is science fiction. This genre is founded on imaginative scientific content which may never come to reality. It looks futuristic technological progress which is just imaginative and may not come to be realistic at all. This is what i dislike about this genre since it just represents things out of individual’s imaginations and they are unrealistic in nature.
Many individuals take cinema as a form of entertainment only but there is more to it than just entertainment. Today, many individuals especially the youth opt for films that are fascinating to them i.e. films that have comedy as there genre or science fiction. This is just to amuse them and as such they are not after anything more but just to entertain themselves and pass time. Cinema is not only a form of entertainment but it entails different aspects that are of great assistance to the society. First of all, cinema directly reflects the society both now i.e. the present as well as the past. This is true as when we look at our film Hotel Rwanda, it reflects the past of Rwanda as a country. It shows what the country passed through and as such, it reflected the past of the Rwandese society.
Secondly, cinema can be viewed as a form of communication. Many films tend to give information to the subjects and as such they communicate to some extent. Hotel Rwanda as a film tries to communicate the society the effects that it should be ready to face if they follow the direction of what was experienced in the past i.e. tribalism and corrupt politics. Thirdly, cinema is seen to be a very powerful driver for education, culture, leisure as well as propaganda. In general terms, cinema performs the function of delighting as well as instructing its audience. Individuals always take films for delighting them i.e. entertaining them and film puts into its advantage to be instructive to the audience. Cinema is considered to be a package that depicts reality, is for recreation purpose, is of importance in the social as well as the political arena, is educative, and cast the opinions as well as bringing change to the system. Cinema provides a cosmopolitan outlook which may be useful in the growth of international understanding.
Film development involves several processes and the most surprising aspect about how a film is developed is the way the whole film is fixed so as to depict a situation to some extent. The film Hotel Rwanda is all about genocide and in its development, there was the need to make the film look like the one experienced during the genocide. This includes how the wars were i.e. even the intensity of it as well as depicting the end results of such wars. Making a film look realistic especially when depicting an event that occurred in the past can be considered to be very challenging as it involves representation of the reality rather that just imaginations.
Hotel Rwanda received varied responses from people who viewed the film. First of all, many disputed the genocide act that was seen in the film and advocated that some of the things shown in the film should not have been presented. Such include the killings seen and violence in the film. On the other hand, others were in support of the film showing everything as it did as this was seen to be something that would present different teachings to the people as a whole. This is so since it is seen that such kinds of movies show individuals vividly of the effects of wars as well as political indifferences that may arise among individuals in a country and as such it serves as a warning to those who live in the current times. The film is said to have had positive effect on many individuals due to the fact that it showed people the path they should not take.
The cinema of a country or region may be influenced by other forms of art in different ways depending on the form of art. Some of the arts that affect cinema or film include material culture, spiritual beliefs, history, and geography among others. Film is considered to be a newer form of art because of the advances in technology that had to take place for it to exist and as such it would be informed by forms of art that have been in existence since the past. These forms of art include poetry, story-telling, theatre and painting. Hotel Rwanda is also seen to have relied on such art for it to be created and aired. This is so since the movie follows a narrative structure that is almost the same as that of a short story or a novel. Many popular American films follow this kind of structure. Culture is also an aspect that affects film since viewing of films that are not from your culture brings in a huge difference from when one views a film from their own culture.
There has been shifting trends in the film industry over time. One of the trends today is that the number of teenagers or young people who attend or go to the cinema has reduced significantly and also they do not go to cinemas as often as in the past. The opposite is in the older individuals where it has been seen that they attend films and cinemas more often even though there are no specific films aimed at them. Another trending factor in the film industry is that film production has been on the rise with there being more films produced compared to the 19th century. Film production has been in on the rise due to the fact that digital production and distribution has developed and is on another level compared to the 19th century. The upcoming of 3D viewing in films is also a trending factor that has come up recently and has been adopted by individuals widely.
In conclusion, Hotel Rwanda is a film that plays a big part in the society in teaching as well as warning individuals on the effects of wars. The genocides shown in the film are horrific and to whoever watches the film would not want to be entangled in such a situation. As such, many who watch the film have seen for themselves the effects of ethnic wars and as such they would take the most appropriate steps to ensure that they not get into such situation. The film contributes towards unity among individuals in a society and this is seen to be a very positive effect on the society as a whole. Producing the film having based the story on actual happenings was the most efficient way of passing on information to people of the society on the importance of co-existing in peace. Additionally, producing the film will also act as a reminder of where these people came from and will also shed light of where they should intend to head.
References
Kayihura, E., & Zukus, K. (2014). Inside the Hotel Rwanda: What really happened and why it matters today.
Ndahiro, A., & Rutazibwa, P. (2008). "Hotel Rwanda" or The Tutsi genocide as seen by Hollywood. Paris: l'Harmattan.
