Hôtel

I usually don't comment what fellow critics on IMDb write, but giving this little masterpiece only an average of 4,2 is bad taste indeed. In short; it's been a while since one saw a movie there so much happens, even if you don't see all of it on the screen. Franziska Weiss is really great, with a face which tells you a lot, with just a small correction of the glimpse in her eyes.

This is creepy, but in a way you might be rather familiar with from your own life. That life is here, by very small means, a nightmare. Maybe the end doesn't really fulfill what is promised, not really. Maybe the camera spotlights in the forest surrounding the hotel are too sharp.

But still this is supposed to give you much worse dreams than for example "The Grudge", which is made by amateurs.

The story has potential. The director has not. The movie is praised as a horror movie, but it isn't. I'd like to say something about the story... but I'm sorry, there is no story. There is no suspense. There is one very well actress, but it's not the leading role. It's Frau Maschek alias Marlene Streeruwitz who did a very impressive acting.

During this very bland 80 minutes I've always been thinking: "When does the story begin?". When the movie came to its end, I was thinking: "That's not it! I've paid for a movie, show me one!". This is definitely the worst film ever made in Austria. It's a shame that movies like this are traded the figureheads of Austrian films. Don't waste your money, don't waste your time! Not even for the DVD.

I saw "HOTEL" at the International Rotterdam Film Festival 2005. It's a minimalistic suspense story that is all about atmosphere and concealed fear. It reminded me of Michael Haneke's "TIME OF THE WOLF" and Nicholas Winding Refn's "FEAR X". Little happens, but there is a constant sense of dread. Tension is built with care and slowly becomes nightmarish as Hausner uses a Lynchian dream-logic.

I don't mind these kind of movies, although i prefer the more engaging type like Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "CURE". It's a matter of taste. Most of the audience sounded frustrated because nothing happened. "HOTEL" is also best suited for smaller theaters. I saw it in a reasonable large room which took away a part of the effect the movie should have.

6.5/10

Irene takes a job as a receptionist at a chilly hotel in the Austrian Alps. She soon learns that the previous employee in her position disappeared from the locale under unclear circumstances, and later discovers a local legend about a witch who dwelled in a nearby cave centuries prior.

This debut from Austrian filmmaker Jessica Hausner is an ominous, at times totally oppressive offering that will divide (and has divided) viewers since it premiered at Cannes in 2003. "Hotel" is the kind of film that employs a storytelling mode that is sparse, at times tantalizingly so. The audience is fed bits of information just as the lead character herself is. We don't necessarily know what to do with it, nor do all of the strands fully converge in the end, but the overall impression that is created stands very strongly.

The location is integral to the film's power, and it also leaves a strong impression on the viewer. The hotel itself appears as a WWII monolith with a newly-fabricated modern millennium sheen. These contrasting elements are most clearly highlighted in the sleek, modern-looking lobby and the crumbly, cavernous, bunker-like basement which comes to take a prominent role in the film.

As is the case with everything else in "Hotel", the performances here are both immediate and distant, with characters that leave strong impressions despite rather threadbare characterization. In the end, the film as a whole will frustrate viewers who wish for more detail and less opaque conclusions--and on one hand, I understand this sentiment. On the other, however, "Hotel" does serve as a haunting, strange film whose power largely derives from the fact that it is comfortably seated in a liminal world. If you yearn for a moderately creepy sort of fable from the realm of the vague, look no further. 7/10.

One of the numerous films that had a great deal of buzz about it prior to its premier at the Cannes Films Festival. The reviews and feelings of many I spoke with about this film were mixed to say the least. This is the first full length film by Hausner and she did a marvelous job. The plot is simple enough...Girl begins working at a Hotel up in the mountains, after her predecessor mysteriously went missing. The eerie shots and mood of the film are relentless. I think what made this movie for me was that it did not give into the temptation to be a Hollywood film. It was not a jump-out-of-your-seat movie, but was enhanced because of that. It broke so many of the typical Hollywood norms, especially the length of the shots. I don't want to give too much away because I want everyone to be able to experience the film in the same unknowing manner in which I was able to. A must see, easily one of the top 3 films at Cannes this year!!!!!