Hotel Rwanda Cinematic Techniques

by upsidedowncake134 (student)

PLOT
Hotel Rwanda is one of the most tragical movie I have ever watched. It is an historical dram film about a hotel manager who on saving the life of around 1,200 people when a deadly genocide occurred in Rwanda. The cause for this ethnic was between two tribes, “the Hutu and the Tutsi” who were claiming to be in power of running the country. Although was a Hutu, he plans on saving innocent people from the war by protecting them in his hotel; since his wife, Tatiana’ was from the opposite tribe, he risked his life in protecting her and her people at the same time from , the vice president of Rwanda also a Hutu who mainly brought the foundation of this war.
However, Paul alone couldn’t protect his family and hotel, so he bribed people of major influence with money and alcohol to protect him and his family from the dreadful conflict, but later when he run out of resources , he realised he was unable to any longer with the guards so he abandoned his hotel. Sadly all foreigners in the country were allowed to evacuate the country safely before any disaster could have happened to them leaving the Rwandans behind to suffer in such catastrophe. Unfortunately even the UN army couldn’t interfere in the war since they were already forbidden to intervene in the political situation. In spite the fact that the UN was ambushed the first time they tried to leave the country, later they travel in a convoy with refugees to a place where they were safely guarded from the Tutsi rebels.
Overall I think this movie is really excellent, every scene was depressing. There are some scenes that really touched my heart; it made me sad, angry. And most importantly I was disgusted by the way the Tutsis treated the Hutus; I mean it was really deliberately cruel of them to massacre people like that. I still wonder why the UN was forbidden to intervene the genocide?

SOUND
Hotel Rwanda without sound is still gruesome and frantic at times, but it loses its potency and pungency. Scenes involving the interahamwe and massacre are difficult to watch, yet made somewhat easier. The chaos created by the noise strikes terror into the viewer so that even the scenes of genocide or people that are being cut to pieces with machetes, are easier to handle without the screaming of the victims. Without the sound you can see the expressions on the individual’s faces but it is hard to tell why they are expressing these emotions. It is not the dialog that is ...

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George uses both radio stations interchangeably; it has a unique effect in the narration of the film. In the beginning of the film Paul is listing to the radio in the car on his way home from work. At first it is tuned to RTLM and hate filled rhetoric threatening the president flies over the air wharves. Disturbed Paul changes the channel to New Service Africa with the soothing voice of its radio host, calmly talking about the currant situation in Rwanda. As Paul changes the channel form RTLM to New Service Africa the two voices are drastically different in, tone, volume, rhetoric and points of view. One news story is told while Paul is in the car. Each station repots on about half of the story each putting its own spin on it. George uses this technique repeatedly. It allows him to be able to give both points of view without having to retell each part of the story.

CAMERA
The camera only leaves Paul s situation very rarely. The effect that this has on the veracity of the film is that it shows that this story is only his story. It recreates all the emotions of unpredictability, suspense and unsureness of what s going to happen next. For example, in one of the scenes after Paul and his family enjoy a safe night together, the next morning he wakes up with a gun to his head. However, following Paul s situation is used more than just for dramatic value. The audience is drawn in to the film, as if they are right there with Paul, and this creates a very real experience.

Cut to scene from Hotel Rwanda where the protagonist Paul steps out of his white van but stubbles and falls to the ground when he lands. Close up of a dead girl with

her hands clasp to her face with a frozen expression of being terrified. Frantically trying to stand up, then walks towards the main road, camera angled from Paul’s point of view the mist and fog of the dawn slowly begins to fade away and the sight of hundreds of dead bodies strewn across the grounds of the road slowly becomes clearer and clearer. Fade to black screen.

Teacher Reviews

Here's what a teacher thought of this essay

Cath Rowe

13th of Aug 2013

** This essays begins to analyse some of the effects of the technical codes and conventions in the film. However, it often veers into description and does not use enough key technical terms. The essay has no conclusion and stops abruptly.

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