Peace Hotel

Chow-Yun Fat stars in this Hong Kong spaghetti western as 'The Killer', an unstoppable bounty hunter and mercenary who has decided to retire after his wife's death. Setting up the 'Peace Hotel', the Killer offers sanctuary to anyone who is on the run from someone who wants them dead. But his altruism is tested to the limit when a young female swindler (played by Cecilia Yip) arrives, on the run from a gang that wants her dead. Soon the Killer is forced into an unpleasant choice - to send her on her way, or violate his own rules and risk an all-out war with the gang.

Well directed, good casting and decent acting. I like the narration at the start telling the story of him you get to know a bit about his character and why he did the thunga he did.

The action is decent but ruined by poor editing. Good film as i said but could have been much better.

Overall a decent Western action film.

When people hear the name Chow yan fat, they associate him with John Woo, of course this is not bad thing. Chow yan fat certainly is the master of heroic bloodshed. But he is foremost a very charismatic and good actor. In Peace Hotel you get an example of very good acting by him. He really carries the movie. The story plays in the wild west of China ( an eastern instead of western, this gives the whole story a very original approach)in which several gangs are at war with each other and where there is one neutral place where everyone is welcome, and where no one will dare to use their weapons. This is because they respect the owner of this " Peace Hotel " (Chow Yan Fat). Everyone believes he is a very notorius killer (the rumour in the movie goes that Chow Yan Fat came to that hotel and killed everyone in sight without remorse and since that event he stayed in the hotel, to maintain the piece. It is a delight to see and find out why Chow Yan Fat did all this and why he stays at this hotel! At first Chow Yan Fat is very sympethatic, but later on you can see that Chow Yan Fat can be a bad motherf###. There is also some very interesting character development from the other actors. The action is brutal and fierce, like it is in real life, so do not expect beautiful filmed action sequences. But do not fear them also, because they fit the story very well.So go watch this movie, if you are ready for a very different HK action movie.

There are 2 essential things wrong with this movie.

First, the 'girl always lying joke' that gets repeated over and over again in the first half of the film. The first couple of times it vaguely amusing, after that its just monotonous.

Second, its no secret Chow Yun Fat cannot fight. He is not a martial artist. Now by the time Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is released they come up with a work-around for this problem. In Peace Hotel they don't. So they set CYF as this great fighting hero who slays many but when we see evidence of this it is simply awful. Jet Li for example would have been a much better choice for this particular role.

The idea for the story is a good one but it fails to get the job done.

In a weird Western wasteland, a bandit by the name of Wong A-Ping- known ominously as The Killer- is something of a legend. Unstoppable and unmatched in brutality, he roams the land, wreaking havoc and taking lives. After a personal tragedy, he establishes the so-called Peace Hotel, a sanctuary where violence is strictly forbidden. For a time, the hotel thrives, acting as a beacon of order and safety throughout the unlawful, dangerous land. However, the machinations of an attractive con-woman named Shau Siu-man- as well as the villainous gang hot on her tail- threaten to disrupt the situation irrevocably, in Wai Ka-Fai's directorial debut 'Peace Hotel.'

A western with artistic stylizations, the film is off-beat and somewhat entertaining; if not terribly original or well-written. The majority of the characters are caricatures, the dialogue is farcical and to call the story predictable would be an understatement. The central conceit is an interesting one, but it is not exploited in a manner that is either subtle or particularly effective. However, one does get quite wrapped up in 'Peace Hotel' anyway, as one would with a cowboy B-movie from the 50's. There are plenty of twists in the tale, a dash of romance and much humor; a concoction that makes for an enjoyable- if underwhelming- viewing experience.

It must be said that the production design overseen by Wai Ming Yau and Chung-Man Yee is impressive and atmospheric work. The sets look weathered, with the titular hotel being particularly striking. The costume design is also worthy of note, not to mention Wing-Hang Wong's cinematography. It is highly stylized and distinct, at times almost dreamlike. Admittedly though, the hurried camera movement occasionally makes for sequences that are overly hectic, particularly the fight scenes; which are quite hard to follow.

That may be more of an issue resulting from Kuo-Chung Chou's editing, though; which is loose and untidy. Many scenes feel disjointed and the narrative is made unnecessarily abstruse, with the impact of the overall film being somewhat lessened. As mentioned above, the fight scenes are especially bewildering, looking like they were shot on 8mm and edited by a blind man for an amateur music video from the early nineties. The pacing is also problematic, with the beginning being quite slow and the latter half of the film feeling quite rushed. Under Wai Ka-Fai's direction, Chou's work leaves an impression on the viewer alright- and not a positive one.

The cast do much more memorable work, Chow Yun-Fat and Cecilia Yip in particular. Chow is a very charismatic performer, with a magnetic screen presence, and his performance as Wong A-Ping is reserved and steady. The character may be underwritten, but he makes him a likable fellow of some depth all the same. Credit for the film's story also goes to Chow, so aside from a good performance he came up with an intriguing concept to boot.

Yip plays Shau Siu-man, a self-centered rogue you cant help but like; perhaps because of the joy of her performance. She doesn't take the role too seriously, there's a tongue-in-cheek element to her chicanery that is most attractive, and she and Chow have a natural chemistry that makes watching them together a treat. Of note from the supporting cast are Shun Lau as a blind resident of the hotel and Jacklyn Wu, who appears in flashback as Chow's wife.

In short, 'Peace Hotel' doesn't make for fantastic cinema, but it does hold entertainment value. The visuals are strong, as are the performances from the cast. The unremarkable story and its oftentimes laughably banal dialogue is problematic though- as is the terrible editing- dooming the film to the realm of mediocrity. John Lennon once sang 'Give Peace A Chance,' but if it's 'Peace Hotel;' perhaps it isn't worth it.

Review: I quite enjoyed this film, mainly because of the crazy lady who told load of lies to stay in the hotel but the action scenes wasn't that great, because of the shoddy camera work. Chow Yun-Fat puts in his usual great performance and the different characters also made it quite enjoyable. Once Chow Yun-Fat's character, The Killer, falls for the lying, cheating and very deceptive girl, the storyline does get a bit weak but the witty storyline and original concept beforehand, was great. Although the movie is full of subtitles, it's still easy to follow and the open ending was sad in one way but intriguing in another. Most of the movie is based around a hotel, with a Western backdrop, so the scale of the movie isn't that big but the ending was still pretty epic. With that aside, everything about this small budget movie worked and I'm slowly becoming a big fan of Chow Yun-Fat. Enjoyable! 

Round-Up: This was the first movie directed by Ka-Fai Wait, 54, in 1995 and he has gone on to direct 17 more movies for the Oriental market, which I personally haven't heard of. Chow Yun- Fat also wrote this movie with the director, and with the production skills of John Woo, it's not surprising that this project turned out so well. 

I recommend this movie to people who are into their action/crime/drama/romance/westerns starring Chow Yun-Fat, Cecilia Yip, Ho Chin and Shun Lau. 5/10