Hotel (2001)

User Rating:

4.6/10   

Director:

Mike Figgis

Writers:

Heathcote Williams (adaptation)
Mike Figgis (story)

Release Date:

5 April 2002 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

While a British film crew are shooting a version of The Duchess Of Malfi in Venice, they in turn are...

Plot Keywords:

Period Piece | Lesbian Kiss | Large Penis | Murder | Erection

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Max Beesley	...	Antonio
Fabrizio Bentivoglio	...	Very Important Doctor
Brian Bovell	...	Cardinal
Saffron Burrows	...	Duchess of Malfi
Elisabetta Cavallotti	...	Abducted Hotel Guest
Valentina Cervi	...	Hotel Maid
George DiCenzo	...	Boris
Andrea Di Stefano	...	Assassin
Nicola Farron	...	Hotel Guest
Christopher Fulford	...	Steve Hawk
Valeria Golino	...	Italian Actress
Jeremy Hardy	...	Flamenco Troupe Administrator
Salma Hayek	...	Charlee Boux
Danny Huston	...	Hotel Manager
Rhys Ifans	...	Trent Stoken

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sexual content, violence and language.

Runtime:

Argentina:114 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival) | Canada:109 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | USA:93 min

Country:

UK | Italy

Language:

English | Italian | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:MA (TV rating) | USA:TV-MA (TV rating) | Argentina:16 | Japan:R-15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Venice, Veneto, Italy

Company:

Moonstone Entertainment

Trivia:

John Webster's play "The Duchess of Malfi" was first performed in 1614 at the Globe Theatre in London, and first published in 1623. The onscreen credits simply list the title followed by the author's name, and omit the word "play".

Movie Connections:

References Citizen Kane (1941)

Soundtrack:

Waltz #15 in A flat major ('Lullaby'), Op.39

Why would anyone think this is a good idea?

This movie is severely lacking in the artistry that it claims to be all about. I feel it is as artistic as a the so-called art created by people who fling paint randomly onto a canvas or getting on a stage and doing various things to hurt themselves or shock the audience. I can't believe that the people involved with this are the people involved with this. I was deluded just as other people who wrote comments about this movie by the cover of the DVD (don't judge a DVD by its cover I know, but still, what else do you have to go on usually? Besides, its intentionally deceptive in my opinion)which makes it sound like a sleek little independent mystery/horror or something like that. I liked many of the cinematic decisions made in regards to photography and lighting, but these can only help so much. The rest of the movie serves only the purpose of trying (key word: trying) to prove that these actors are truly "artists" and are so adept and creative that they can improvise an entire movie. Not the case here. This is equivalent, in my opinion, to a group of expert, yet overindulgent scientists trying to get their faces on The Journal of Science and instead blowing up the lab. Hopefully this movie will serve an unintentionally good purpose of proving there is a reason great artists like Van Gogh or Monet painted artistic "impressions" of life and the world with some measure of design and structure, a blueprint if you will, and there is a reason why movies need (i'd underline need if I could