Hotel Rwanda - Soundtracks

The true-life account of Rwandan hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina (Don Cheadle) and his courageous efforts to shield a thousand refugees from the genocide that swept his country in 1994 features a soundtrack that evokes both a range of rich African musical traditions and the horror of ancient tribal tensions pushed to a murderous breaking point. Afro Celt Sound System's "Mama Ararira" medley sets the tense, haunting dramatic tone, while a pair of contributions from group vocalist Dorothea Munyaneza underscore the innocent humanity at the heart of the tragedy. Elsewhere, South Africa's Yvonne Chaka Chaka offers up a lively homage to African beer, while the solo voice and guitar of Uganda's Bernard Kabanda detail a "Voyage to Europe." Offering a tasteful bridge to Western tastes is the rich, Golden Globe-nominated ballad "Million Voices" by the Fugees' Wyclef Jean as well as strong contributions from megastar writer/producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (Debroah Cox's lament "Nobody Cares," the wistful "Ne Me Laisse Pas Seule Ici" ["Don't Leave Me Here By Myself"]). Equally disparate, the film's underscore cements it all into a compelling whole via the dark electro-atmospherics of Rupert Gregson-Williams and Andrea Guerra's melancholia-charged orchestral cues