New Rose Hotel [VHS]

Fortunately Ferrara is committed to film. he will ignore whatever and keep making films regardless.

Ferrara is obviously not a person imprisoned by the notion of 'good taste', but more to the point, recognises that life is an emotional mental and physical experience - sex looks weird, decisions are 'non logical' and the world is bigger than any individual. These are virtues.

Forget everything you have heard about William Gibson - 'cyberpunk' blah blah blah. Ferrera pulls out the beating heart and mind (they are the same thing) at the centre of the short story and avoids speculation about 'the future. This is a love story, and it reeks of semen, strange urges and a distinctively human scent.This is not a sci-fi story, and If anyone tells you this is a sci-fi story, never take a word they say seriously again.

The smartest move Ferrara makes is recognising that the future looks remarkably like the present. Freedom! left the geeks behind, so lets get on with it!

Once again Walken pulls out the stops for Ferrara and delivers the kind of desparte, funny, tender, sad, tragic, half mad characterisations only these two seem to know how to cook up. It is also a thrill to see Willem de Foe deliver a good performance in a watchable film.

Like a lot of Ferrara's films its riches are yielded through multiple viewings - engaging, confusing, evocative - the relationship between the three protaganists and their place in a world they don't quite understand, and which will surprise them.

It would be tempting to call this an arthouse movie - but that is an insult. When arthouse stands for some halfwitted pose (it is not good enough to mock mainstream film values - you actually need to deliver something superior), Ferrara is a rare talent. he doesn't need our encouragement, but do see this movie before he explodes.


A film for cinematographers   May 1, 2000
Charles J. King (USA)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful

An excellent film, but not for the faint of heart, New Rose Hotel requires a level of concentration usually reserved for literature. It is a good measure by which to separate the wheat from the chaff.


walken's funny cRaZy lines "NOOKIE NOOKIE" very fun movie   February 23, 2000
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

this is a movie that is fun to watch, the singing by abel in the club is very good , walken is at his best with his who cares atitude. defoe is spaced out and cool the way he's falling apart before your eyes , over abel. abel has a nice accent in her voice. the music is cool at the begining of the movie


Something else.   September 2, 2009
O. Pineda
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I started watching the movie, finally having had it on hold, i'd heard about it and how hated it was apparently. As a film it's great, obviously not the greatest thing, but it was pretty intimate. It wasn't a big ending or it wasn't much an action thriller, it wasn't that kind of picture at all. But, it was definitely a picture about the characters. The look of the film was very interesting and very dark, the score was pretty great, the acting too, great. I think Ferrara made a great film, that seems to really be something that's been misunderstood. I haven't read the William Gibson short story so i don't know how much it differs from the original story, but adaptations are hardly ever perfect, maybe a few times, but what counts is the film on it's own. How the film performs and if it does anything for you.


Give New Rose Hotel a chance   March 27, 2000
Jason C. Nelson (los angeles,ca)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful

Now look people I know this isn't the Matrix and it's not the best movie out there but I did read the story New Rose Hotel and the movie was closer to the story than Johnny Mnemonic did and beside anything with Chris Walken in it is worth atleast giving it a try. So why not lay off New Rose and go pick on Godzilla or something.