CPH:DOX review: ‘The Hotel’

Accompany Kristian Petri on his special tour around the world to discover hotels

Leslie Hawener

Mar 22, 2017

How much attention do you pay to hotels? To many, they’re merely functional: a place to stay in while you’re away from home.

But to others, they’re a whole lot more, and in his documentary, Swedish filmmaker Kristian Petri travels around the world to discover the stories of the people who stay or work in them, and to take in their surroundings and history.

Petri interviews a wide range of people for the documentary, including celebrities such as Norwegian journalist Åsne Seierstad and Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård.

And he also draws on the emotional descriptions and photographs of his father to bring a personal slant to the documentary.

Following Petri on his journey to the likes of Japan, Spain, Iraq and Italy, his documentary will interest those with an interest in travel and hotels, but might become tiring for those who don’t tend to differentiate between the Waldorf Astoria and Fawlty Towers … unless they find a rat in their room.

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