TFS - Week 2

So with what many of you have been waiting for, I present details from this past week's film class. We started off the class with a recap of the syllabus and reintroduction to the class (apparently for those who might have added somehow?). Once this boring piece of classtime was spent, the next started with an open discussion on last week's film (In Good Company) and our encounter with director/writer Paul Weitz. This part would not have been so bad if some people in the class kept their inane and trivial comments to themselves; however, I felt like we wasted time listening to people complain about things the director had no control over (i.e. trailers and tv spots) or comment on things fully discussed last week, or how someone felt Teddy K was secretly after the seven sacred scrolls of Zolthar! (or whatever he said....)

Now to the meat of things. The short we watched was entitled, "Hollywood Extra Girl" and was about the lives of the no-names in Hollywood. It also was, in some ways, an advertisement for Cecil B. DeMille's "The Crusades". Following the short, the movie we ended up seeing was "Hotel Rwanda", which is just the upbeat movie we all want to see before a pajama party. For those unfamiliar with the film, the movie is about the experiences a hotel manager confronts during the genocide that took place in Rwanda in 1994. Don Cheadle plays the main character and delivers an emotionally powerful performance as real life Paul Rusesabagina. Overall it was a very heavy movie, but very well made and very well performed by all actors.

Stopping by to discuss the film was writer/director Terry George and producer Alex Kitman Ho. They had some very interesting things to say about the film, not only about the film process itself, but also how it was created and eventually made from a production viewpoint. About 90% of the film actually happened as depicted, and yet most of the violence wasn't even shown (thus making it a PG-13 movie). I actually preferred this because it not only gave you more of a feeling of suspense, but also I didn't want to see more than I had. Terry explained that in his mind, there was no rated 'R' version of this film; he wasn't going to compromise with the violence of the events that took place. To him it was either going to be a PG-13 film or a NC-17 film. It was also difficult to make sure that this film didn't slowly transform into a documentary, but instead focus on the local story of Paul and his hotel.

This was a really good film and I recommend people see it. Not only does it carry with it a message of awareness and support for those affected by this event, but it really is a great story in and of itself. Like Terry said, Rwanda is the backdrop for the struggles one man and his family face. I've got almost two pages of typed notes taken from this week's class session so if people are interested in the film or the topic in general, drop me a line. Stay tuned this Thursday night for Week 3 of TFS!