Masukarêdo hoteru

Takuya Kimura does a great job at playing the disinterested detective that grows more and more passionate about his case. The acting is great, especially from the hotel staff.

The murder story takes a bit of a backseat, most of the case development is told through meetings rather than shown. Instead the story actually focuses on the behind the scenes of hotel management, Japanese work culture and perfectionism, often explaining the influence a good hotel can have on a person's life. It can be a bit corny at times though, almost anime-like but that's just part of Japanese movie culture.

The biggest problem of the movie however is that it's too predictable. They draw so much attention to some plot points that it becomes obvious it will be a key factor in the story later. The killer is also pretty obvious, it's so obvious in fact that you wonder if the movie is going to give you a plot twist... And it does, but it isn't a very good one. Also the killer's motive and logic is soooo stupid and non-sensical that I had to ask my Japanese friend if I understood it correctly... Unfortunately I did, and it really is THAT silly; an easily avoidable situation that makes no sense. I half expected a quirky scene where someone points out the obvious solution to the killer's problem and they say "oh, why didn't I think that?! Oh well! Too late now *murder*"

Plus the killer leaves all sorts of clues and seems to hint that he is some sort of professional assassin... But he isn't a phantom killer or anything like that, it's just a crime of passion, makes no sense to leave hints and I just don't believe that person uses such methodology. It really feels they had someone else in mind to be the killer but they thought it was too obvious or something and switched killers in the last minute.

Given than the heart of a murder mystery is the motive, method and reveal this movie greatly suffers from it, which is unfortunate because the whole plot about Japanese work culture is good.

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.

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

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 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.)