This film is a glorious mess, and I mean that as a compliment. It's a Dogme 95 film, directed by Mike Figgis (LEAVING LAS VEGAS, TIME CODE) set in a hotel in Venice, Italy, about the making of a Dogme film where the actors are set to perform THE DUCHESS OF MALFI, while the staff haunts the cast, turning them into some sort of pseudo-vampires. Got that?

HOTEL has an all-star cast, with John Malkovich, Rhys Ifans, David Schwimmer, Lucy Liu, Salma Hayek, Jason Isaacs, Burt Reynolds, and many others. some of them are just walk ons for one or two scenes. Salma Hayek is filming a documentary about the Dogme film. "They get the bad light, and I get all the good light." It's a large cast, and they jump into this experiment in film with abandon. Ifans is particularly good as the director of the Dogme film, lording it over the actors with impunity, and he seems to be having an awful lot of fun.

I'm well on record about disliking Dogme films. I think it's an interesting idea, but for the most part it's just an exercise in experimentation. But HOTEL is an exception. It won me over. There are moments in HOTEL that are inspired, that just don't give a damn if you can follow them or not. It plays like jazz, with the film going off in odd tangents, begging the audience to keep up. In parts, it almost plays like a spoof of the Dogme style. When filming a sequence in a square in Venice, passersby take pictures of the film being made, tourists eat ice cream, and pigeons land on the actors' heads. "Use the pigeons!" says Ifans to the crew as they struggle to hold it together in a very funny scene.

The problem with the Dogme style, and with HOTEL, is that this style of film doesn't lend itself to true narrative. The rules of Dogme to me prevent the plot from taking off because, well, the filmmakers are too busy worrying about the very things that Dogme prohibits. I like cameras with dollys, and rooms where I can see what's going on. Eventually you have to stop experimenting and try to use what you have learned to tell a successful story. HOTEL is never unwatchable. There are moments where you have no idea what will happen next. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. I like that it takes risks. It's a gutsy movie, and I hope it gets seen. I also hope that Figgis moves on from the style and uses what works in other films.

My friends who I saw HOTEL with didn't care for it at all, and I can't exactly blame them. HOTEL isn't for everybody. At times, it isn't for ANYBODY. But it's always compelling, and I hope it gets U.S. distribution.

I'm taking off for a day from the festival, but I hope to return with some more reviews, including a film called JANE WHITE IS SICK AND TWISTED, starring Wil Wheaton. See you soon.

Nordling, out.

Now here's Swavill Lord of Chaos

Hello Harry and Father Geek. Swavill here again with some more reviews. I'll start with the last film I saw "As Far As My Feet Will Carry Me".I must say I agree with Nordling's review in every way. Even after reading it I was not prepared for the scope of this film it absolutely blew me away. The word epic is thrown around quite a bit these days,but it fits this film. I was really impressed with last nights "No Turning Back". But I have to agree with Nordling this is the best I've seen so far.

Next up I opted for the world premiere of "Going Independent" Directed by Robert Gladstone and produced and filmed locally here in Houston.The story of a young man who dreams of making movies and winds up working as a stock broker. Where he meets two friends and convinces them to quit their jobs and help him make an independant film is largely auto-biographical. Gladstone and his screenwriting partners Jason Fischer and Dionne Jones wrote the screenplay based on their experiences in a small investment banking firm. The film is entertaining. Some of the performances were a little over the top. but overall its not a bad little film.

Next I went for a documentary titled "Return To Belaye:A Rite of Passage. Directed by Amy Flannery. Amy a former Peace Corps volunteer married the eldest son of a tribal chief from Belaye,Sengal,West Africa and they moved to Washington D.C. But now her husband must return home to undergo the rite of passage into manhood and she decides to document the event. For fans of documentaries on primitive cultures this is something I would recomend. It is quite interesting.

Last up was an Italian murder mystery with a slightly supernatural twist called "Il Terzo Leone"(The Third Lion).A priest is found dead on a train with no apparent cause of death. Further investigation reveals the priest was translating scrolls containing information on an ancient cult who legend has it fought the forces of Satan on the spirit plane each year to determine the outcome of the harvest. Its an interesting story based on an actual legend in Italy.It was supposedly filmed for televison. Which fits.Its about as good as your average episode of Murder She Wrote. Oh well thats all for tonight I'll try to send some more tomorrow. I'm going to try to see Under the Stars, Mile Zero, Dune7, and Haut Les Coeurs.

Swavill Lord of Chaos