Summary
A cross between a closed room Agatha Christie yarn and a hotel caper arrives in this long-awaited adaptation of a popular Japanese novel.
MASQUERADE HOTEL (マスカレード・ホテル) arrives with all the fanfare you’d expect from a film based on the works of a blockbuster writer. Indeed, the screen rights to novelist Keigo Higashino’s most releases, including The Crimes That Bind and Laplace’s Witch, underwent serious bidding battles.
A series of murders across Tokyo lead Detective Kosuke Nitta (Takuya Kimura) to Hotel Koruteshia Tokyo, where he believes the next crime will take place. Working undercover as a concierge, he encounters the super-professional Naomi Yamagishi (Masami Nagasawa) who tries to teach him the value of good customer service.
With the flourish of a CG-enhanced zoom in on Japan from space, there’s a sense that we’re arriving in medias res with this film. This probably has something to do with the fact that this is based on a series of books all all of the characters are firmly established in the creator’s minds. This gives director Masayuki Suzuki (Princess Toyotomi), continuing a theme from 2017’s Honnuji Hotel, confident ground to stand on.
It also means a little bit of controlled chaos in the narrative, with screenwriter Michitaka Okada (the Liar Game series of films) flipping from one subplot to the next. Effectively operating as a “closed room” murder mystery in the vein of Agatha Christie, the odd asides and flashbacks feel more like giant signposts than subtle clues at times.
Yet the cast in universally excellent. Suzuki and actor Takuya Kimura previously worked together on the drama series Hero and subsequent film of the same name, and he slides into an easy leading man role here. It’s Masami Nagasawa (Before We Vanish, Gintama, Your Name) who rightly takes the film by the horns and steers it. Supporting cast includes the likes of the recognisable Fumiyo Kohinata and Zen Kajihara for a rounded gallery of faces.
A slick and crowd-pleasing adaptation, it’s hard to imagine a more perfect opening night film for the Japanese Film Festival 2019. Without giving away the twisty conclusion too much, the film certainly sets itself up for further adventures. With a likeable set of leads and an in-built set of stories that can spin-off from the core, this is the kind of hotel that you’d happily make a return visit to after check-out.
2019 | Japan | DIR: Masayuki Suzuki | WRITERS: Michitaka Okada (based on the novel by Keigo Higashino) | CAST: Takuya Kimura, Masami Nagasawa | DISTRIBUTOR: Japanese Film Festival 2019 (AUS) | RUNNING TIME: 132 minutes | RELEASE DATE: October – December 2019 (JFF)
