Hotel Monterey
| Hotel Monterey | |
|---|---|
Poster used for the Criterion Collection release | |
| Directed by | Chantal Akerman |
| Written by | Chantal Akerman |
| Produced by | Chantal Akerman |
| Cinematography | Babette Mangolte |
| Edited by | Geneviève Luciani |
Release date |
|
Running time | 62 minutes |
| Countries |
|
| Language | Silent |
Hotel Monterey is a 1972[2][3][4] American silent documentary structural film directed by Chantal Akerman.[5] It is Akerman's first feature film.
Synopsis
The film consists of a series of silent long takes shot in a hotel in New York City. Shots are meticulously staged to create visual patterns and optical illusions as the film slowly explores several different parts of the hotel, ranging from austere and claustrophobic basement corridors to hotel rooms—some occupied, some not—to skylines of neighboring building roofs and water towers shot from the rooftop.
Location
The hotel, located at 215 West 94th Street in Manhattan, opened in 1914 as the Hotel Apthorp. In 1916, the name changed to Hotel Monterey, which it retained until 1976. By 2008, it had become Days Hotel, part of the Days Inn/Quality Inn chain.[6]
Release and re-release
The Criterion Collection released it through their Eclipse series in 2010, as part of a set titled Chantal Akerman in the Seventies that included four feature films Akerman directed in the 1970s as well as a number of short films,[7] and again in 2024 as part of the set Chantal Akerman Masterpieces, 1968–1978.[8]
In 2013, Akerman introduced Hotel Monterey, along with two other films, La Chambre and News from Home, at the 11th annual "Save and Project" film series at the New York Museum of Modern Art.[9]
References
- ^ "Hôtel Monterey (1973)". IMDb.
- ^ "Hotel Monterey, Belgique, 1972, 62 minutes". Jeu de Paume.
- ^ "Hotel Monterey". Cinéma (180). September–October 1973.
- ^ "Hotel Monterey". La Revue du Cinéma / Image et Son (275). September 1973.
- ^ "Hotel Monterey". The Criterion Collection. The Criterion Collection. Retrieved 13 May 2025.
- ^ Grutchfield, Walter (2010). "Monterey Hotel / Newton Hotel". Walter Grutchfield Signs. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
- ^ Kehr, Dave (31 January 2010). "The Evolving Vision of a Belgian Auteur". The New York Times.
- ^ Cole, Jake (26 January 2024). "Blu-ray Review: Chantal Akerman Masterpieces, 1968–1978 on the Criterion Collection". Slant Magazine.
- ^ "Save and Project: The 11th MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation". Museum of Modern Art.