Masukarêdo hoteru

GRAND HOTEL (1932) Japan style. Uneven mini plots (linked to a small, but expensive looking hotel) make up the bulk of the film - sort of like TV episodes. Murder mystery (usually running in the background except for the closing scenes) is hard to follow, since it is totally thread bare and stretched to the point of being an obviously faked plot. Actors are OK, but performances are nothing great. Cinematography is packed with tricks (camera is hyper acrobatic!) plus lots of CGI seems to have been used to compensate for the small main set (the lobby of the hotel). Special effects are fine, but highly repetitive. Music is overkill with dramatic sounding themes that seldom match the bland scenes displayed. Big orchestra sound. Subtitles are mostly OK, but can hit or miss the dialog. Viewed at JICC J-Film event. WILLIAM FLANIGAN

My family and i watched this movie 5 times and we still loved the Kimura's performance. We have loved most of his movies and drama.

This story is a bit different from what Kimura played in the past. But overall, we enjoyed it.

The elegance of the high production setup of Masquerade Hotel is enough to invite you in into this comic investigative thriller that is part funny, part serious as a team of police officers arrive at a plush, 5-star hotel to solve a case where a serial killer is supposed to execute his final killing. Although the film goes haywire and overlong in the second and third acts, I really enjoyed watching the lead actors play it out, and even more so as the film knowingly highlights the purity of the hotel management scene which is a delightful subject in itself. When things unfold finally, you feel a certain longing for the hotel, if you have ever enjoyed a stay at a 5-star. That's the impact Masquerade Hotel has. TN.

(Watched and reviewed at its India premiere at the 3rd Japanese Film Festival in Mumbai.)

The great cinematography, the classical music soundtrack, the elegant, fancy hotel surroundings and the at times overly colorful characters give the movie an almost Disney-like, larger than life feel. It really draws you in right away. The plot begins to unfold in a slightly convoluted, but intriguing way. But then the murder mystery takes a backseat and instead we get an insight behind the curtains of the hotel business, which reveals the archetypal japanese perfectionism and deep, almost religious dedication to the work and the customer service. While sometimes over the top, this is quite fascinating and the police officer and the female receptionist have really great chemistry as they join forces and exchange their totally different approaches and mindsets. But too much of the murder story happens off screen and is only told verbally by the protagonists, there are too many suspects and victims that are only ever talked about and never shown and it becomes rather hard to follow. And ultimately the conclusion, after the movie spins this huge, complex web of motives and potential murderers, is quite a let down. However, I still enjoyed watching it, simply because of the great atmosphere, the charming hotel subplot and the nice characters.

The movie itself is not very captivating, given that the story just develops within a hotel. The female lead is ok. But with the evergreen male lead the whole movie is lightened.