[golgiaparatus]

Is a badass movie... see it.

 

[Lexx D]

Yes it is. It's in the top 5 that I've seen this year.

 

[LordOpie]

Yup, surprised at how good it was showing how horrible the situation was without being so friggin' depressing.

 

[=[Stinky]=]

see this, and Motorcycle Diaries. Both are newish excellent movies.

 

[Andyman_1970]

Actually I've heard this movie is more "Christian" than the Passion of the Christ, so needless to say I'll be keen to see it.

Interesting article on the two movies (Passion & Hotel Rwanda)

Revisiting the Passion of the Christ
by Brian D. McLaren
Maybe it's because I spent time last summer in Burundi, the poorer twin sister of Rwanda that shares a similar history, tribal makeup, geography, culture, and terrifying undercurrent of genocide. Maybe it's because while I was there, I met Anglican priests serving in Rwanda who told personal stories of the tragedies there - and their efforts to bring healing and reconciliation in the aftermath. Maybe it's because (some readers may be tempted to write me off after reading this sentence) I was so frustrated by last year's promotional hype surrounding Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ - and I was so frustrated by the movie itself, though I know many found it moving and spiritually edifying. Maybe it's because I have deep concerns about the alignment of major sectors of Christianity with "red-state Republicanism," and I worry that a kind of modernist, nationalist neo-fundamentalism is trying to claim all Christian territory as its sovereign domain.

For whatever reason, when I walked out of the 2005 film Hotel Rwanda this thought wouldn't leave me: If we really had the mind and heart of Christ, this is the movie we would be urging people in our churches to see. In fact, I can't think of a more worthwhile experience for Christian leaders than to watch Hotel Rwanda and then ask themselves questions like these:

Which film would Jesus most want us to see, and why?

Why did so many churches urge people to see Gibson's film, and why did so few (if any?) promote Terry George's film? What do our answers to that question say about us?

What were the practical outcomes of millions of people seeing Gibson's film? And what outcomes might occur if equal numbers saw Hotel Rwanda - as an act of Christian faithfulness?

In what sense could Hotel Rwanda actually be titled The Passion of the Christ?

What do we make of the fact that a high percentage of Rwandans who participated in the 1994 genocides were churchgoers?

What do we make of the fact that a high percentage of the Americans who ignored the 1994 genocides (then and now) were and are churchgoers?

What kind of repentance does each film evoke in Western Christians? Why might the kind of repentance evoked by Hotel Rwanda be especially needed during these important days in history?

It's been well over a week since I saw the film, and I still feel a churning inside me, a disquiet, a rumble in my heart that feels to me like "the burden" that the old prophets used to speak of, maybe even a simmering heat reminiscent of Jeremiah's "fire in my bones."

And now, I realize that even raising these kinds of questions has possibly stimulated defensive and divisive temptations in many readers. "This guy must be a liberal," some readers are thinking. "Go get 'em, Brian!" others might be saying.

And then I go back to the film again. And I think about Tutsi and Hutu locked in a cycle of fear and aggression, insult and revenge, attack and counterattack. And I also think of the Twa - the literal "little people" of our world - whose story is so little known and who suffer in the crossfire between the larger, more powerful tribes. And I think about how our community of Christian believers is divided by tribes also caught in long-standing cycles that seem to defy reconciliation: Protestant, Catholic; liberal, conservative; red state, blue state; contemporary, traditional; postmodern, modern; seeker-driven, seeker-sensitive; purpose-driven, tradition-driven; and so on.

And I go back to the film and think of the hotel and its manager, himself a Hutu but one who loves Tutsi as well. I think about his distinction early in the film among family (who deserve help) and non-family (whom one can't worry about), and how in the course of the genocide he comes to see that all neighbors are family. And I wonder why so few of us see our neighbors in the Christian faith in anything close to a similar way - not to mention our non-Christian neighbors who may also be modern-day prostitutes, tax collectors, and Samaritans. I wonder what kind of tragedy it would take to bring us to the insight gained by that hotel manager.

Then I realize that, in some ways at least, the tragic tsunami of Dec. 26, 2004, did that. I didn't hear anyone saying, "Let's raise money for Baptists in Indonesia," or "Let's send help to Evangelicals in Sri Lanka," or "Let's be sure no liberals get any of our help, or any Hindus, or Buddhists, or Muslims." I think about the words of a Sri Lankan - whether he was a Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, or Christian, I don't know - who said that a wave of destruction had crashed upon them, but when he looked to the horizon he saw another wave rising: an even taller, deeper, and more powerful wave of compassion.

And then I realize that's why Hotel Rwanda seemed to me an even more Christian film (forgive me if this sounds crazy to you - but try to understand) than The Passion of the Christ. It evoked in me a wave of compassion for my neighbors around the world, whatever their color or tribe, whatever their religion or politics. And I hear our Lord saying, "As you have done it to the least of these...you have done it to me."

For a wave of compassion to arise, we know there must first be a wave of repentance. How odd that re-thinking (which is what repentance means) must precede emotion, but then again, perhaps it is bad thinking that numbs and steels us, and blinds and distracts us from the sufferings of our neighbors.

I wonder if I can look to the horizon and see, by faith, a wave rising, a wave we could call "the compassion of the Christ." Could that wave rise and catch us all, bringing us together for the sake of the least of these, whom Christ is not ashamed to call sisters and brothers, whom he loves with the greatest passion of all: compassion?

Brian McLaren is the founding pastor of Cedar Ridge Community Church in Spencerville, Maryland. This article originally appeared in Leadership Journal.

 

[jmvar]

How is the access to non-mainstream movies in your areas?

I live about 15-20 minutes outside of Washinton DC and you can't find a theater that screens something like Hotel Rwanda. You have to go into the city for that. I guess that is a disadvantage of living in the 'burbs.

 

[=[Stinky]=]

There are 2 theaters here in Atlanta which are 'Arts Theaters' and they usually run the independant and international movies. Everything else around here is a Supermegaplex.

 

[hooples3]

I saw motorcycle diaries.. loved it .. i have to see hotel Rwanda, hopefully soon . and i really liked sideways

 

[golgiaparatus]

I saw motorcycle diaries.. loved it .. i have to see hotel Rwanda, hopefully soon . and i really liked sideways

Rwanda is much better than sideways... that movie had some funny parts and all and the character development was great but overall it was a snoozer... IMHO.

 

[LordOpie]

"If anyone orders Merlot, I'm fvcking leaving!"