Synopsis
Everyone has something to hide.
The Million Dollar Hotel starts with a jump from a roof top that clears up a death in a hotel that was burning to the ground where a lot of strange people had been living.
2000 Directed by Wim Wenders
The Million Dollar Hotel starts with a jump from a roof top that clears up a death in a hotel that was burning to the ground where a lot of strange people had been living.
Mel Gibson Milla Jovovich Jeremy Davies Amanda Plummer Peter Stormare Bud Cort Jimmy Smits Julian Sands Harris Yulin Conrad Roberts Donal Logue Tom Bower Gloria Stuart Charlayne Woodard Ellen Cleghorne Richard Edson Ezra Buzzington Tito Larriva David Stifel Frederique van der Wal Roger Stoneburner Erik Rondell Bono Monty Bane Tim Roth Jon Hassell Wim Wenders
El hotel del millón de dólares, 百万大饭店, 地痞酒店谋杀案, 百万美元大酒店, 百万美元旅馆, Viešbutis, vertas milijono, 밀리언 달러 호텔, The.Million.Dollar.Hotel, ミリオンダラー・ホテル, The Million Dollar Hotel - O Hotel, Отель «Миллион долларов», 百万美元酒店, A millió dolláros hotel, מלון מיליון הדולר, O Hotel de um Milhão de Dólares, Sırlar Oteli, Milijono vertas viešbutis, Million Dollar Hotel, 百萬大飯店, Hotelul de 1 milion de dolari, სასტუმრო "მილიონი დოლარი", ปมฆ่าปริศนาพันล้าน
This movie has one of the more interesting conceptions I've heard in a while. Supposedly Bono, the lead singer of U2, came up with the idea for this quirky film while shooting the music video for Where the Streets Have No Name on the roof of the same hotel that is the centerpiece for the film. With the help of Wim Wenders (Wings of Desire), whom Bono had collaborated with before, and Nicholas Klein (this was the third and last film he wrote to date), this strange film came into existence.
How to explain this film... Well, it's about a group of mentally unstable junkies living in a rundown hotel in which there was a possible murder. So it's up…
My heart tells me: "Thanks for nothing, Bono", but my mind tells me that it was actually Wenders, under his persistent U.S. cultural influence, the one that was convinced to prolong a music video idea into a feature film. What saves this from misery is that the film focuses more on the fractured psychology of the collective character rather than the mystery/thriller genre it superficially belongs to, simply because it does happen to state more. Approaching this as a simple mystery film is incorrect. What I stumbled upon, however, is frequent self-indulgent, perfectly sound mumbo-jumbo from a protagonist with mental disabilities for then being bombarded with awful dialogue deliveries and uninspired performances except from Jovovich, who might be playing here…
"Some people said that she was just a dumb slut, but I knew... she wasn't dumb".
dialogue A++
Started this at about 11:30 last night and watched through until 1:30am. Still mulling it over. Feels like a fever dream.I can totally see why this is lost on some (Mel Gibson) but I thought many aspects were beautiful.
Though I'm usually the first to voice my distate of U2, the music here is beautiful. Gorgeous, atmospheric, and nearly egoless. Bono is an after thought/absent on many of the tracks, but offers admirably lyrical contrast to Lou Reed when performing his cover of Satellite of Love.
Wim Wenders is quickly becoming a favorite filmmaker of mine. Bold in vision and soft in practice. Constantly serving reminders that we live on Earth, and that mystical, magical forces work behind the scenes of a logic-driven world.
A mix of tones and narrative bits that never quite stick, "The Million Dollar Hotel" find Mel Gibson's FBI agent investigating a death in a hotel filled with quirky residents. Swaying from melancholy moments to stretches of near-comedy, the story's tone and plot threads are elevated by the characters at its core. Gibson's performance is solid and amusing, standing out in an ephemeral production. The film makes for a watchable experience, but the entire affair feels paper thin.
It could have been a very good Polar Noir with its aesthetics and direction, but the direction of the actors is catastrophic and it's a shame considering the theme. Even Mel Gibson said this movie sucked durind an interview "As boring as dog's ass" He's absolutely right
This is a kind of film which most of critics do not appreciate it but I like it . U2's song for the ending is amazing.
The critics hated it. The film bombed in America. The Italians loved it. There is truly a difference between European and American mentalities. Maybe I have a European's filmmakers eye, but I really liked Wender's "The Million Dollar Hotel". Complete madness in a fleabag hotel, fantastic camera work. I'm a big fan of the music of Jon Hassell.
English:
Seen the remastered version on BluRay after 5 years. This work still enchants me - and even more than last time. After the crazy good Paris, Texas the second best work by Wim Wenders from my point of view. These pictures are still so atmospheric - as I used to say back then: the pictures feel like a long-forgotten home to me. Yes, they still do.
Deutsch:
Nach 5 Jahren in der Remastered Fassung auf BluRay gesehen. Dieses Werk verzaubert mich immer noch - und noch stärker als beim letzten Mal. Nach dem irre guten Paris, Texas das zweitbeste Werk von Wim Wenders aus meiner Sicht. Nach wie vor sind diese Bilder so atmosphärisch - wie pflegte ich damals zu sagen: die Bilder fühlen sich für mich an wie ein längst vergessenes zu Hause. Ja, immer noch.
Unbearably up its own ass, Wim Wenders' movie is an exercise in testing one's patience. Within the first ten minutes I knew I was in for a heavy kicking and seriously considered either switching it off or retiring from movie-watching life altogether. But I suffered through this piece of shit just so I could write a smugly negative review of it on Letterboxd.
'The Million Dollar Hotel' wastes its awesome premise -- a whodunnit set in a hotel for misfits, schizophrenics and weirdos -- on a slow, meandering non-plot that sees a cast of eccentric character actors try to out-crazy one another. It's like I wandered into an amateur drama troupe's improvisation class directed by a man speaking an entirely…