Hôtel Monterey (1973)

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1. 

   Siskoid

   I hate hotels. Especially if I'm going to stay in one alone. Chantal Akerman gets it. There's something lonely, sad, and a little creepy about hotels. A clear precursor to her News from Home, Hotel Monterey could almost be called a collection of stills, as might be found in a photography book, with the same kind of eye for the interesting shot, if not for the fleeting movement of an elevator door, of a blinking light, or eventually of the camera itself, finally impatient with hotel life and looking for a story perhaps, or for escape to the outside. Like I said, Chantal Akerman gets it. Or perhaps I'm the one imposing the narrative, the film a reflection of my own psyche. That's her trick. Hotel Monterey goes even further than her other "still lives" in that is has no sound whatsoever. We really are looking at picture as if they were paintings of light and shadow, the dingy hotel (what is up with there being no light in the elevator?!) providing the latter, and thus some mystery, in spades. 4 years 7 months ago

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