Jaw Dropping Opulence

Rating: 8/10 (29 June 2014)

Whether the hotel rooms' sets came from custom set design; cgi; or actual filming locations it was all jaw dropping engaging in its opulence. The film showcases that period between wars in eastern Europe when fortunes rapidly rose only to just as rapidly dissipate. We follow those fortunes and lifestyles through the guests, workers and others whose lives intersect with the hotel's rise & fall. Not only the sets, but the props and costuming were all period appropriate first rate. The painted mat backdrop for the hotel gave an other-worldly fantastical feel to the film's locality. On the downside the script itself was uneven - not polished thus not comfortably easy for a viewer to get hooked into the plot's digressions. The acting, on the other hand, was superb. It completely sold that not-quite- real fantasy feel to the story.