In 1980s many who had read William Gibson’s cyberpunk fiction not only became great fans, but also began to contemplate how this fiction could lead to cinema classics if adapted to big screens. Next decade showed that it might have not been the best idea. Three years after disastrous 1995 adaptation of short story Johnny Mnemonic came adaptation of New Rose Hotel, another of Gibson’s short stories, directed by Abel Ferrara.
Plot is set in unspecified time that could either be very near future or present day. Main characters are X (played by Willem Dafoe) and Fox (played by Christopher Walken), two men who work in Tokyo as industrial spies and “fixers”. Japanese corporation Hosaka hires them for the delicate task of obtaining Dr. Hiroshi (played by Yoshitaka Amano), genius scientist in service of the rival Maas corporation. The plan is to make Hiroshi defect, and the its main element is Sandii (played by Asia Argento), beautiful night club singer and part-time prostitute who is hired to seduce the scientist. During the preparations, X falls in love with Sandii and contemplates marrying her. At first, it seems that X and Fox are successful; Hiroshi agrees to join Hosaka and travels to newly built laboratory in Marrakech. But, soon disaster strikes, Sandii disappears and X and Fox become hunted by their former clients.
Gibson’s 1984 short story has created an interest among Hollywood producers, with Edward R. Pressman obtaining film rights. The adaptation was originally to be directed by Kathryn Bigelow, director known for energetic and highly regarded action films. She abandoned the project and later directed Strange Days, film with similar themes. New Rose Hotel ended in the hands of Abel Ferrara, whose script, co-written with Steve Zois, was actually quite faithful to its literary source. However, Ferrara gave this film very personal touch, employing the style that is more suitable to arthouse dramas than futuristic techno-thrillers. There is very little action in the film, most of the plot takes place indoors and audience has little opportunity to glimpse the world of New Rose Hotel and see how it is different from our known. The film features formidable cast, with Christopher Walken and Wille Dafoe using every opportunity to chew scenery and apparently having great fun at the set. Asia Argento is also good in one of her early roles, although most of the viewers would pay more attention to the fact that she appears nude in many scenes. Ferrara, like in many of his films, mixes heavy drama with exploitation content, but his efforts to entertain audience are hampered by dislikeable characters and slow tempo. Last fifteen minutes of film, which contain repetitive flashbacks, will require too much patience from the audience and make New Rose Hotel much longer than it actually is. Although it isn’t the worst film that tried to exploit popularity of cyberpunk, New Rose Hotel is among the more disappointing.
RATING: 3/10 (+)
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