


Alvin: While similarities to the famous HK auteur’s works are hard to turn a blind eye to, I’d have to agree that Hotel 66 is a film that more than manages to hold its own, in originality or otherwise. There is to me, no other aspect that captures this more than the story arcs of the two main characters and the aplomb to which the actors pull it off. The male prostitute - in his suave, self-confident demeanour (looking so even when smoking beside a foul-smelling rubbish dump), and a hotel staff member in all her inquisitive but shy state - two cultural aliens poles apart in every way except in a longing need for companionship. Perhaps one of the film’s penultimate scenes wraps up this film best: both characters sit sheepishly in front of a TV set broadcasting a football match that would otherwise suit neither’s fancy. An awkward silence palpable even through the noisy blaring of the TV set ensues, before a wager serves to break the silence – a result that turns out inconsequential to either. Like what the man behind the aesthetic inspiration behind the film is famed for, Hotel 66 leaves an audience with a poignant take on its themes without feeling too contrived.