Century Hotel

Century Hotel marks the feature length film debut of Canadian director David Weaver, who certainly showed no fear in tackling this project. The entire film takes places in room 720 of a Toronto hotel, and cuts nearly randomly among 7 different stories chronicling each era from the early 20's to the turn of the century. Each story has a very different visual style, which helps the viewer orient himself to the different stories. Indeed, had they not done that, the film would be impossible to follow.

Briefly, the first and last story both star Lindy Booth. In the first, she is a flapper who is the reluctant bride of a rather unappealing businessman, and in the last segment, she is a Goth type, intending to celebrate the millennium by ending it all.
Story 2 has a Chinese mail order bride arriving to marry a crime boss in the depression.
Next, we have a WWII soldier returning home to his best friend and his fiancee.
Then a professor comes to look for his runaway wife during the cold War 50s, and is the victim of a confidence scam.
The 60's story is a reclusive rock star who has a relationship with his maid.
The 80's is the story of a hooker (Mia Kirshner) and a man who form a bond, and meet for one night of wild sex every year.

NUDITY REPORT

Kirshner shows buns briefly, and breasts frequently, but in nearly no light. The scenes appear to have been shot with blue light, then further darkened. Lindy Booth shows breasts in the 1920's segment in much more light.

The cast is a who's who of the Canadian A list. This project was very ambitious, and was made even more difficult by the decision not to present each tale chronologically, but was not completely unsuccessful.

region 1 DVD only available in Canada

The film was made for a mere $750k Canadian. Students of film should see this, as it is fresh, and somewhat effective, but it is a long watch, and I found I couldn't really get emotionally involved in any of the seven stories the way the film jumped around. It is not a film for the masses, but some of you will want to look for it.

The Critics Vote

no major reviews online

For a good review with more detail, check this one.

The People Vote ...

IMDB summary. IMDb voters score it 7.1 /10

with their dollars: Canadian gross: 750,000 beaver bucks

IMDb guideline: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence, about like three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, about like two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, about like two stars from the critics. Films under five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film, equivalent to about one and a half stars from the critics or less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Based on this description, this film is a C.