Hotel Splendide

What an odd movie to pop up on my list of recommendation on Prime. The cast is excellent (I'll watch anything with Daniel Craig), but the ensemble is amazing. The precis presented by Prime is incorrect -- the young woman returning to the monstrosity that is the Hotel Splendide is the former lover, not the sister, of the chef, and this change turned what I thought might be a quirky comedy into a rather dark but still lively exploration of what happens when the dead refuse to die. The atmosphere of this film is somewhere between Grand Budapest Hotel and Amalie -- I definitely feel the shades of Jeunot and Caro flitting about -- but the revolution which occurs is quintessentially British -- low key, strange, and ultimately enlightening.

Tale of a resort and health spa, on a remote island off the coast. Lots of time spent talking about the health treatments, the menu, and the heating system... the miserly old patriarch owner, Mrs. Blanche has passed on, and now the family can spruce it all up. If they can only agree on what's to be done. When Kath (Collette), a former employee returns, the cook (daniel craig) refuses to work with her. Stanley (Hugh O'Conor, the irish one!) is the nightly entertainment, and is watching the wacky goings on. He wants to leave, but is scared of crossing the water. So he stays. This zany film was one of Craig's quirky ones, before he started playing James Bond. Collette has done so many of these fun, indie films, she seems to really excel in this category. It's a ton of fun. Even when bad stuff happens, it's light and fluffy and fun. I'll definitely watch this one again. Directed by Terence Gross. Story by Marie Redonnet, french author.

This is one of the strangest, most bizarre films I've watched - but it was splendid and hilarious!!! Great cast and wonderfully fun - but you need a sense of humor to watch it!!!!

Toni Collette, after her breakthrough but before she became a very visible and recognizable international star. Daniel Craig, before he became James Bond. Stephen Tompkinson, fresh off of 'Ballykissangel' and his celebrated role as Father Clifford. All that's to say nothing of some other notable names and faces, including Toby Jones and Peter Vaughan, and these alone make 'Hotel Splendide' a bit of a curiosity. Then there's the production design and art direction - and even the sharp, eye-catching, flavorful costume design, hair, makeup, effects, and cinematography - by which one could easily enough mistake this as the work of Jean-Pierre Jeunet ('Delicatessen,' 'The city of lost children'), or depending on your frame of reference, possibly Tim Burton or Wes Anderson. 'Hotel Splendide' is wry and kooky as a dark comedy, but it also boasts a playful, offbeat whimsy in telling of an isolated, decaying health spa (further bearing notes of 'The road to Wellville'), the family that operates it, and the upset that follows the return of a past employee. With the actors all joyfully embracing the peculiar fancy of the production and of their characters, even as I don't entirely know what to make of this film, I'd be lying if I said it weren't marvelously enjoyable.

Even composer Mark Tschanz takes the overarching tenor and just runs with it, providing an original score that's often jaunty and peppy like a traveling carnival sideshow. The outcome is a feature that is outwardly just half a heartbeat away from fantasy, sci-fi, or even horror, while nevertheless ostensibly taking place in "the real world." The sheer amount of brilliant detail that's poured into every element is kind of exhilarating. I'm not exactly familiar with filmmaker Terence Gross, and he doesn't seem to have a lot of credits to his name, but I'm quite taken with this minor gem that he created. The characterizations alone, the quirks and personalities that he bestowed on these figures, are rich and tantalizing; Gross could have put them in any setting and it would be a joy to watch the fireworks fly. Factor in the isolation, and the very nature of "health resorts" (or whatever one may call them) as something more than a little on the fringe of society, and the whole is ripe with potential.

For my part, I think we see that potential deftly realized through individual scenes and ideas that capitalize on the strange, sometimes almost surreal splendor of the concoction. It's maybe not realized entirely as much through the narrative that draws it all together. The return of individualist Kath is a shock to the system that shakes the foundations of a family, and a hotel, that is effectively, ominously ruled over by the family matriarch even in death, and the tumult upends both the stale, persisting routines and beliefs of the people involved, and the treatment regime that is decidedly less beneficial than advertised - all quite by the design of that same late matriarch, and moreover executed through her True Believer son, Dezmond. The plot is there, but it's not completely as solid and sure-footed as everything else that greets us; I think the connective tissue of the story just isn't as fully developed, even as soft but definitively relevant themes emerge of the cruel hypocrisy and decadence of those in power who would demand austerity of their subjects. Thankfully, though this strikes me as the relative weak point of the picture, the rest is certainly strong enough to help shore it up. That absolutely includes the cast, and though I dare not discount anyone else, I wonder if it's not the case that Tompkinson steals the show with the severe yet frayed, nervous energy he carries as Dezmond.

It's very weird, and imperfect, with the often ingenious thoughts not always coming out so clearly and cogently in the end product. Superb and highly entertaining as this movie mostly is, any perceived faults come down to Gross' writing as much as his direction - a reflection not perhaps of abject failure, but simply of how Gross stood to still grow and develop in his skills. No matter how we scrutinize the particulars, though, I don't think there's much arguing how creative and original this is, and it remains far better than not, with lasting value far outshining any lesser aspects. Everything looks and sounds incredible, representing high production standards that frankly outpace some new releases of twenty-five years later. It won't appeal to all comers, but for those who are receptive to all t he wide, wacky possibilities of cinema, 'Hotel Splendide' is an off-kilter gem that is well worth checking out. Enter with an open mind and just enjoy the ride; I'm happy to give this my warm recommendation.

See if only for the plumbing and the music. I can't think of anything more ghastly than spending time at an English spa treating digestive disorders. This is exactly what I would imagine it would be like. On a remote, rainy and rocky little spit of crab dung sits the Hotel Splendide run by the by the Blanche family who seem to have come there at some better time, maybe before ferry service was cut to once a month. There isn't a plot exactly: its more of a scripted hysteria. Very fine cast with Daniel Craig, Toni Collette, and particularly the late Katrin Cartlidge as a character who has wandered in from Black Narcissus. There is also an unusual performance by Stephen Tompkinson that'a unlike anything you are likely to see anywhere else. The cinematography also owes something to Jack Cardiff and the heyday of the Archers and their use of color. Toby Jones and Peter Vaughan round out, with young Hugh O'Connor, an excellent group of lost bowel obsessives existing mostly on various eel dishes. Try it.