Review of Hotel Chevalier (2007) by Mark S — 21 Nov 2011

This short is a great little introductory prelude to The Darjeeling Limited, but it works okay on its own, too. The brief narrative concerns a man in a hotel room who gets a visit from his estranged ex.

It's pretty much a two character piece, but it's amazing how strong this is, and it's only 13 minutes. The art direction and cinematography are wonderful. Schwartzman and Portman put in some terrific work, and Portman briefly gets naked, so, if you like that sort of thing, here it is.

I think Anderson should make more shorts because this is really good, and, given that it is limited by time, he is forced to be more creative and tell a whole story in a short amount of time. He's in somewhat of a rut as of recently, although Fantastic Mr. Fox did pull him out of it a bit. I think this sort of thing could really revitalize his career.

Give this a watch. It's really something.