S Y N O P S I S
The first days of 2020’s lockdown seem to drag forever for a group of tourists trapped in a Thai hotel. In strict confinement and as the big day of an unexpected event approaches, emotional entanglements, tensions and long kept secrets rise to the surface.
D I R E C T O R ’ S
B I O G R A P H Y
WANG XIAOSHUAI is one of pioneers of Chinese independent film, the winner of French Culture and Art Knight Medal, internationally renowned Chinese film director. During this twenty years of filming, Wang has directed 14 films. His works span different eras, yet consistently reflect a strong social conscience. With a strong personal style and humanistic care, the spirit of perseverance and independent creation, Wang Xiaoshuai’s films were shortlisted at the three major international film festivals eight times and nominated for the main competition unit six times. BEIJING BICYLE (2001) won the Grand Jury Silver Bear in Competition at the Berlinale, IN LOVE WE TRUST (2008) won the Berlinale Silver Bear for Best Screenplay, and the Grand Jury Prize for SHANGHAI DREAMS (2005) in the Cannes Main Competition. RED AMNESIA (2014) was selected in competition for the Golden Lion at the 71st Venice International Film Festival, and the latest title SO LONG, MY SON (2019) won two Silver Bears for the Best Actor and Actress at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival, later the film was awarded three Golden Roosters for Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenplay. His debut feature THE DAYS (1993) was selected as “one of the best 100 films of all time” by the BBC in 1995, and collected by the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
S E L E C T E D D I R E C T O R ’ S
F I L M O G R A P H Y
2022 THE HOTEL (LV GUAN)
2019 SO LONG MY SON (DI JIU TIAN CHANG)
2018 CHINESE PORTRAIT (WO DE JING TOU)
2014 RED AMNESIA (CHUANG RU ZHE)
2011 11 FLOWERS (WO SHIYI)
2010 CHONGQING BLUES (RI ZHAO CHONG QING)
2008 IN LOVE WE TRUST (ZUO YOU)
2005 SHANGHAI DREAMS (QING HONG)
2003 DRIFTERS (ER DI)
2001 BEIJING BICYCLE (SHI QI SUI DE DAN CHE)
2000 SUBURBAN DREAMS (MENG HUAN TIAN YUAN)
1999 SO CLOSE TO PARADISE (BIAN DAN GU NIANG)
1995 FROZEN (JI DU HAN LENG)
1993 THE DAYS (DONG CHUN DE RI ZI)
C O M M E N T S O F
T H E D I R E C T O R
At the beginning of 2020, Liu Xuan and I travelled to Chiang Mai, Thailand, with each of our mothers. Our original plan was to spend eight days there celebrating the Chinese New Year. However, we couldn’t have expected the outbreak of Covid-19 and the lockdown of Wuhan. All flights in and out of China were cancelled. Later, the pandemic spread worldwide, and we were trapped in Chiang Mai without preparation. Soon, Chiang Mai started to impose a curfew. Fear was spreading, a new type of fear our generation had never experienced. And being in a foreign land, we felt lost.
click to read more
Some of our friends shared the same experience and feelings, including writers, screenwriters, and actors; they all became characters later in this film. There was a white couple earlier in the hotel. After their departure, all people who remained there were Chinese.
We couldn’t go anywhere, yet idling time away scared us too. We knew this was not and would not be the end of the world, but the doomsday feeling came overwhelmingly. Eventually, we decided to pull ourselves together and do something. Although the characters in this film are fictional, they are all based on people in real life. They cannot represent every single Chinese, but they are the epitome of Chinese people nowadays. They are hiding themselves behind the regulation and within the framework of society. Only in the face of disaster can they show their most authentic side. While confronted with the precipitous difficulty of returning home, apprehension and yearnings, confusion and panic exploded instantly. No one could empathize with others’ pain; everyone’s life was distorted, humanities were torn apart to extremity, and fates fell into a total unknown.
M A I N C A S T
B I O G R A P H Y
Ning Yuanyuan
as SOVA
Chinese actress, director.
She attended a private art high school in the United States and graduated from the Central Academy of Drama with a major in musical performance.
Filmography:
AN INSIGNIFICANT AFFAIR (2019), director and actress
MY GARDEN OF EDEN (2011), dubber (Directed by SUN Weimin)
LITTLE RED FLOWERS (2006), as YANG Nanyan (Directed by ZHANG Yuan)
Ye Fu
as YU FENG
Chinese writer, screenwriter.
In 2006, won Outstanding Contribution Award of “Retro -spective of poets of the Third Generation”.
In 2019, won Prize for Contribution to Contemporary Chinese.
In 2010, UNDER THE RIVER won the Taipei Inter- national Book Expo’s Non-Fiction Award.
Filmography:
GODDESS OF MERCY (2003), Associate Producer (Directed by Ann Hui)
Television series:
FATHER’s WAR (2009), Screenwriter (Directed by MA Gongwei)
Qu Ying
as LIANG DAN
Chinese model, actress, singer
Filmography:
MYSTERY (2012), actress (Directed by LOU Ye)
CALL FOR LOVE (2007), as LI Miao (Directed by ZHANG Jianya)
RHAPSODY OF SPRING (1998), as SU Yu (Directed by TENG Wenji)
KEEP COOL (1997), as AN Hong (Directed by ZHANG Yimou)
DON’T BE YOUNG (1994), as WANG Lan (Directed by LOU Ye)
Huang Xiaolei
as MEI HONGYU
Chinese actress
Best New Talent at the 15th College Student Film Festival Filmography:
WOLF TOTEM (2015), actress (Directed by Jean- Jacques ANNAUD)
SO YOUNG (2013), actress (Directed by ZHAO Wei)
LOST ON JOURNEY (2010), actress (Directed by YE Weimin)
Television series:
TROUBLED TIMES THREE BROTHERS (2013), as SONG Yajuan (Directed by GUAN Hu)
Worrapon Srisai
as A DONG (POP)
26, a Chinese major undergraduate of Chiangmai Royal University, Thailand, made his screen debut in this film.
Dai Jun
as DING GE
Chinese actor, singer, television host, writer
In 1995, solo single A-LIAN brought him to the attention of the public.
In 1996, awarded the "National Listener's Favorite Singer" by China National Radio.
In 2001, known for the interview TV program SUPER INTERVIEW with LI Jing as his co-host.
Li Zonghan
as TOMMY
Chinese actor
Filmography:
VOICE OF THE NATION (2019), as TIAN Han (Directed by QING Shan)
I’M NOT MADAME BOVARY (2016), as QIN Yuhe (Directed by FENG Xiaogang)
Television Series:
JIAN GUO DA YE (2020), actor (Directed by ZHAO Yilong, WANG Weimin)
I WILL FIND YOU A BETTER HOME (2020), as ZHAI Yunxiao (Directed by AN Jian)
THE STORY OF YANXI PALACE (2018), as Emperor Yongzheng (Directed by HUI Kaidong, WEN Deguang)
CHINESE PARASOL RAIN (2001), as XIE Jiashu (Directed by FU Dongyu)
M A I N C R E W
Director: Wang Xiaoshuai
Screenwriters: Ning Dai, Ye Fu
Executive Producer: Liu Xuan
Producers: Zhang Yuan, Liu Xuan
Assistant Director: Zhang Mo
Director of Photography:
Suparawee Patravanich
Chief Editor: Lee Chatametikool
Sound Designer: Fu Kang
Sound Recordist: Tariq Marzbaan
T E C H N I C A L
D E T A I L S
Original title: Lv Guan
International title: THE HOTEL
Duration: 112 min
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Format: 2K
Sound: 5.1
Year: 2022
Original languages: Mandarin;
Chinese Hubei dialect; Thai
Country of production: Chinese Hong Kong
Production Companies: Hong Kong General Film Company Limited
