Motel Cactus (1997)

Director: Park Gi-Yong

Producer: Cha Seung-Jae

Cast: Lee Mi-Yeon, Jeong Wu-Seong, Jin Hee-Gyeong, Park Shin-Yang, Kim Seung-Hyeon, Han Wung-Su, Kim Ae-Ra, Shin Dong-Hwan, Lee Su-Nam, Choi Seon-Jung

Running Time: 91 min.

Plot: Motel Cactus consists of four episodes, all of which take place in Room 407 of Motel Cactus, a love hotel in Seoul. Each episode is prefaced with a vignette showing one of the characters. Choi celebrates her birthday with her boyfriend Lee Min-Koo in Motel Cactus. Room 407 is the only place she feels entirely secure with Lee. Student Sung Joon-Ki has rented room 407 for several hours to shoot a scene for his video film, a college project. Salaryman Kim Suk-Tae meets Choi Hyun-Joo in a bar. Both very drunk, they arrive in room 407. Kim Suk-Tae is back in the room, alone. He is soon joined by his old flame from his college days. Both are vaguely hoping to rekindle their old relationship...

Availability: This title is available at HKflix.com

MIGHTY PEKING MAN'S REVIEW: "Motel Cactus" drags. It's 91 minutes long, but feels more like 3 hours. I wish I can get into the plot a little, but other than the first 20 or so minutes, I had no idea what was going on; or what the point was. I hope I'm not sounding too vague, but "Motel Cactus" is nothing but a big, fat, confusing bore. In fact, it's not even worth trying to make out what's going on. For what it's worth, think of it as a compilation of flashbacks from three different films...

Fine-cinema enthusiasts will probably seek out "Motel Cactus" for the presence of master-cinematographer Christopher Doyle, Wong Kar-Wai's favorite camera man who's film resume includes "Hero", "Chungking Express" and "In The Mood For Love". Doyle does his handywork here, but sadly, even his artsy-skillful touch doesn't make it watchable. If anything, the mix of Doyle's luscious camera work and Park Gi-Yong's convoluted going-on's makes it a bewildering experience for the eye. In other words, all you Christopher Doyle fans should save your money and/or your time.

The best thing about "Motel Cactus" is the Korean ballad that plays over the DVD menu and during the end-credits. Anyone know the name of the song or who performs it? Please don't make me pop in the DVD to hear it again.

Even nineballninja from kfccinema.com wouldn't give this film a good score, and that guy likes every movie he watches.

MIGHTY PEKING MAN'S RATING: 3/10