Hutus, Tutus, Lulus, Mumus after a while all start to sound the same. All except for the first two words are names of tribes in Rewanda but for most of us Americans they seem to be little more then just silly puns on words like the last two. That was the reviewer's impression at first of the genocide in Rewanda, but that was forever changed after seeing the thought provoking movie called Hotel Rewanda. Genocide suddenly got a human face, and our actions or lack therefore in Rewanda became all that more realistic after seeing this film.

I ask myself how could we have ignored these people during the genocide in Rewanda? President Clinton's then Secretary of State Janet Reno made that our policy by officially downplaying the slaughter of innocents in such a far away country. We weren't talking about people in Rewanda in 1994, we where talking about tribes and essentially non-humans getting killed. It was racism and ethnocentrism held far away from our eyes.

The film brought that genocide into our faces. It was about a courageous and diplomatic hotel manager who had foisted on him the saving of the lives of the people he so knew and loved from the evils of a civil war between the Hutus and Tutus. His actions where courageous and risky, and it left the reviewer at the edge of his seat. Particularly sad and shocking was the lack of response from the US and the scenes of burning houses where people once lived, and the bumpy road caused by massacred bodies piled on it. Disgusting and shocking, it does show the horrors of civil war.

The reviewer was thoroughly impressed with this film. It was better then I had imagined before I had seen it on the silver screen. Maybe it is not in the class of Kensey or Aviator; it is still increadibly enjoyable. If you don't see this on the big screen, then it's probably worthwhile to rent this video. It will be unlikely to become a classic, but it will shock your social conscience.