Our Man in Arlington

thought the fates were against me last week as I kept trying to see the new movie “Hotel Rwanda.”

Twice, I went downtown to the Cineplex Odeon at Dupont Circle and twice the movie was sold out for the entire day! Then, I decided to drive all the way out to the new Fairfax Corner 14 Cinema De Lux (yes, that is how they spell it). I left in plenty of time for the 4:00 show, or so I thought. When I got on I 66, however, traffic ground to a halt. I crept to the Route 50 exit, when the pace picked up a bit.

Then, I discovered very belatedly that the exit to Fairfax Corner is from the left lane – the only such exit on 66. I stared at the theater complex across four impenetrable lanes of traffic. By the time I got to the theater, the show had been on the screen for at least half an hour.

The next day I discovered that the movie had finally opened closer to home. I took a short, leisurely trip to Shirlington to see the movie. Another great reason to live in Arlington!

It was worth the trouble. “Hotel Rwanda” is simply one of the best movies I have ever seen.

Don’t go if you want light-hearted entertainment or get a little squeamish watching in graphic detail the total collapse of civil society into bloody and merciless chaos. This movie is not for you.

But it is for you if you are ready to experience a film that shows precisely what happens when humans lose all control over their lives and how, even in those evil times, there are men and women who become more than heroes almost inadvertently as they try to bring some order and decency into an environment in which there is no order and decency.

The movie is the story of Paul Rusesabagina, the manager of a great luxury hotel in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. As the movie opens, the horrible 1994 Rwanda genocide is beginning, where in the space of a few weeks, the members of the majority Hutu tribe killed at least one million Tutsi men women and children.

As the genocide grows, Paul finds more and more people crowding into the hotel, which enjoys a modest amount of protection from the local warlord general. He uses the skills required of a luxury hotel manager to bribe, cajole, browbeat, and negotiate bare necessities such as food and water as well as the protection of some 1,200 “guests” of the hotel. You will never forget the stunning climax to this stunning movie as the genocide horribly grinds to its bloody conclusion and Paul makes the heroic effort to save some 1,200 hundred people from the guns and machetes of the Hutu thugs.

All of the acting is stellar. Nick Nolte plays a UN colonel to perfection, a man who has neither the authority or troop strength to make much of a difference, but who tries mightily. Sophie Okonedo plays Paul’s wife, Tatiana, with a lovely quiet intensity.

But the true star is Don Cheadle who plays Paul magnificently. In one fell swoop, he has become a major star. Think Humphrey Bogart in “Casablanca,” though it is of a different time, a different place, and different circumstances. People will remember and honor Cheadle’s performance as long as movies exist as a major cultural force.

“Hotel Rwanda” gets five stars on a four star scale. Remember, see it in Arlington! It’s the only way to go. Richard Barton may be emailed at rbarton@towervillas.com