| Hotel Chevalier | |
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| Directed by | Wes Anderson |
| Produced by | John Runkle |
| Written by | Wes Anderson |
| Starring | Jason Schwartzman Natalie Portman |
| Cinematography | Robert Yeoman |
| Editing by | Vincent Marchand |
| Running time | 13 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Followed by | The Darjeeling Limited |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
Hotel Chevalier is a short film by director Wes Anderson, released in 2007. Starring Jason Schwartzman and Natalie Portman, the film acts as a prologue to Anderson's 2007 feature The Darjeeling Limited. The 13-minute short takes place in the eponymous hotel some time before Schwartzman's character, Jack, meets his two older brothers in India. The film was screened out of competition alongside The Darjeeling Limited at the 64th Annual Venice Film Festival. It is currently showing in North American and British theaters attached to the beginning of The Darjeeling Limited. The film was shot at the Hotel Raphael in Paris, France. The song "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)" by Peter Sarstedt, from the 1969 album of the same name, is featured prominently in the short. Hotel Chevalier attracted some attention for containing Natalie Portman's first nude scene,[1] despite her previous insistence that she would never shoot one.[2]
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Plot summary
The film takes place in Room 403 of the Hotel Chevalier, located in Paris, France. It begins as Jack (Jason Schwartzman) orders a grilled cheese sandwich from room service. He receives a call from a woman he knows, who in The Darjeeling Limited is revealed to be his ex-girlfriend (Natalie Portman). She informs him that she has just arrived in Paris, and will meet him at his hotel room in half an hour. Jack hurriedly attempts to tidy his room, changing out of his yellow bathrobe into a suit. When the woman arrives, it is revealed in conversation that Jack has been living in the hotel room for "more than a month". The woman voices her intention to leave the next morning. After Jack's grilled cheese arrives, the two kiss and Jack begins to undress the woman. As he does, he notices bruises on her arm, but she does not comment on them. She tells Jack that she hopes that they will remain friends, and says that she loves him. Jack responds coldly to these statements. She continues to undress and they embrace until Jack offers to show her his view of Paris. The film ends as Jack dresses the woman in the yellow bathrobe and they step out on the balcony together, viewing the scenery for a few seconds before stepping back inside.
Release
The short was first made available in the United States as a free download from the iTunes Store on September 26, 2007. On October 26, 2007, the short was removed from iTunes and distributed in theaters as the prologue to The Darjeeling Limited.[3] Before being removed from iTunes, it was downloaded nearly 500,000 times and received wide acclaim.[3] A Fox Searchlight rep told The New York Times that the theatrical release was the first step in a planned Oscar campaign for the short, even though current Oscar qualification rules disqualify short films that are distributed online before meeting the Academy's theatrical exhibition requirements.[4]
References
- ^ "Want to See Nat Naked?", Sky News, 2007-09-28. Retrieved on 2007-09-28.
- ^ "'Heart' Breaker", Chicago Sun-Times, 2000-04-23. Retrieved on 2007-10-02.
- ^ a b Darjeeling to be paired with a short NY Times October 22, 2007
- ^ Hotel Chevalier Gets a Theatrical Run SpoutBlog October 22, 2007
External links
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| Features: Bottle Rocket (1996) • Rushmore (1998) • The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) • The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) • The Darjeeling Limited (2007) • Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) Shorts: Bottle Rocket (1994) • Hotel Chevalier (2007) |
