Starfish Hotel

This film looks darned good, and its moody atmosphere is a beautiful thing as well. Unfortunately, Williams relies far to heavily on motifs from Haruki Murakami novels like "The Wild Sheep Chase" and "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle," borrows a bit too obviously from "Eyes Wide Shut," and steals outright from "Donnie Darko." All of this might have been forgiven if Williams had conjured a gripping story here or something (anything!) of his own that was strikingly original. Sadly, this is not the case. The characters are never very compelling, and the story never manages to build any real momentum. As a result, "Starfish Hotel" is certainly watchable but not memorable.

Koichi Sato gets all the best parts. He gets it on with two great women in this film. And no doubt he was paid well for the privilege, too... Kiki is new to me, but I'll be looking out for her from now on. Nobody has ever worn a red silk negligee so well. The woman has legs that go on forever, as one great shot reveals when she runs her toes down Sato's back. Tae Kimura's sweet beauty contrasts well with the hot sensuality of Kiki, the Ziyi Zhang compared to Kiki's Li Gong. In one scene they both wear kimono, and Tae wins that round on points - Kiki looks better undressed.

The story, about a guy torn between the comfort of a beautiful wife and the passion of a young lover, is told in flashbacks, slowly revealing a more sinister side to the events that begin to plague Sato's Arisu. The plotting keeps you guessing till the very end - beyond that, in fact. Lush and sensuous, tragic and beautiful, Starfish Hotel is a feast for the senses - and a treat for fans of eye candy.

STARFISH HOTEL is a film with bags of atmosphere but little to no story to support it. It's one of those style-over-substance movies that works hard to build a sense of foreboding and mystery, but when it comes down to it it's a complete waste of time for viewers looking for concrete plotting and actual answers.

There are some things I liked about this film; the cinematography isn't half bad, with the shadowy set locations bringing to mind the noirish likes of DARK CITY, and I love the use of the haunting piano music as part of the film's score. That's where the good stuff ends, though. The story involves Koichi Sato (INFECTION) who goes on a hunt for his missing wife and becomes involved in the strange world of a mystery writer and his creations.

There are plot elements borrowed from the likes of DONNIE DARKO and other movies, but it all adds up to a very insignificant storyline when it boils down to it, and you do wonder why you wasted the time watching it. That's because STARFISH HOTEL is a timewaster, nothing more.

I don't agree with the comment I just read about this film, because I felt that this movie had indeed something very original, even if the similarities to other movies is obvious. Director Williams pointed out that he hadn't seen Donnie Darko before writing this script, so we just believe him or we don't. He certainly uses locations, aspects from other movies or books, but "Starfish Hotel" is still a fascinating experience.

It reminded me of watching Lynch's "Mulholland Drive" for the first time. I didn't really understand the film as a whole, but just felt that it isn't just random weirdness. You really get the feeling that there is a certain sense behind every scene and you start thinking about it a lot. Is it all shown in the correct chronological order? Is it all reality or is it partly a dream? Is maybe everything just in the head of this novel writer who we see from time to time? Yet while watching the movie I had different theories and I believe that I would appreciate this movie more, watching it a second time in the future. Just like "Mulholland Drive", which I believed to understand after watching it the third or fourth time. The problem is that I probably will not have the possibility to watch "Starfish Hotel" a second time if it's not discovered as a worthy movie for releasing it on DVD.

Maybe I'm just wrong. Maybe it's just random weirdness and completely stolen from other movies and books, but I just had the feeling it was not. I know a lot of similar movies that are just weird and nothing else and I'm not thinking about them anymore after leaving the cinema. "Starfish Hotel" is not one of them. I thought about it a lot after watching it and are still thinking about it. It is definitely worth a look if you look these kind of movies.