Century Hotel

I just saw this film last night at the Victoria Independent Film Festival and was very impressed. The intertwining stories of eroticism, death, betrayal, love and understanding were a feast for the eyes and the heart. David Weaver and Co. give a lesson in how to construct a beautiful movie on a limited budget with a minimum of location.

The set design was impeccable. From the opulence of the turn of the century to the stark functionality of the recession era 80's the designers managed to capture the essence of each era in the furnishings and decorative aspects of the room.

Less than convincing was Raine Maida's effort at the cliched emotionally unstable rock star recluse. I suppose my judgment is clouded by seeing the excellent portrayal of said cliche by Maury Chaykin in Whale Music. Also, the dialogue between Raine and Chantal was strained and really didn't fit into the stream of the rest of the movie.

Of particular enjoyment were the scenes between the Hotel Detective and the Nerdy Book Lover. Their chemistry together was unmistakable. The simplistic dissection of the nature of love between a man and a woman gave me many a laugh.

All in all, a highly recommended Canadian flick.

9/10

These multiple vignettes all taking place in the same hotel room during the course of the last century are brief and engaging enough to keep you interested, but generally don't come together in any meaningful way. They all make a point, but ultimately only one works in bringing the overall framework of the picture to a satisfactory close. Amateurish writing nicely filmed.

Anyone who reads the back of the movie sleeve will have some idea of what Century Hotel is about. ONE ROOM, SEVEN STORIES, etc. For the most part, every major event in the film takes place in room 720, as if the room (or a ghost who inhabits the room) is telling us each of these tales.

Since all seven stories are being told from the ROOM'S perspective, we can only expect to know what goes on in that room and nothing more. Not all the stories are completely wrapped up in room 720 and we shouldn't expect them to be. Just as we don't see everyone check in, we shouldn't be surprised that we don't see everyone check out.

What Century Hotel provides for viewers are glimpses into different people's lives from different time periods. Each of these stories is about a different form of LOVE and it is interesting to see these sides of love, even if each story only occupies about 15 minutes of film.

To quote the great Roger Ebert, "I prefer to evaluate a film on the basis of what it intends to do, not on what I think it should have done." On this basis, Century Hotel succeeds for what it is: Seven glimpses into different forms of love, complimented with good acting, great cinematography and beyond.

I also really liked Century Hotel. I only heard about it, because I am a huge OLP fan and I just wanted to see Raine Maida. But it was good! I haven't heard anything about it other than one article before it even came out. I watched it last night and I can't stop thinking about it. I wasn't disappointed in the movie, or Raine. And to the person who was looking for the song, it's called Can't Make It Good, but unfortunately I can't find it anywhere. I've been looking all day.

I got this film on the strength of one actress that I like... Lindy Booth. Her performance in Century Hotel seems a little below par, but it was adequate.

The film doesn't seem to go anyway in the first hour, but then it unfolds nicely after that. Which is unfortunate since the film is only about 90 minutes long.

The Cantonese pronunciations were absolutely crap. I didn't they just stick to using imitation bad English (Canadian) accents instead of getting the actors to speak very poor Cantonese? Or perhaps they should have rewritten that part of the script. Sorry, it's a nitpick, but I believe films are an art form and, as such, should be given more TLC than Century Hotel was given.

I did like the little "twist" regarding the soldier guy who was soon to be married to his sweetheart who he hadn't seen for a long time. Watch the film and you'll find out!

All in all, this wasn't a bad film. But they could've done so much more with it. 6/10 is a fair indication of its entertainment value.