The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles is presenting a free online film screening of “Hotel Royal” (2020, 104 minutes) until Thursday, Oct. 14, at 7 p.m.
This drama adapts a series of novels set within a love hotel into a single story interconnecting the present and the past. At the helm is Masaharu Take, who has directed “100 Yen Love” and the “We Make Antiques” series. He brings his unique blend of understated humor to this offbeat dramedy.
Masayo (Haru) failed her art school entrance exam and ends up helping out at the Hotel Royal, a roadside love hotel her father Daikichi (Ken Yasuda) owns in her birthplace of Hokkaido. Masayo partly resigns herself to take over the hotel, which a variety of people visit seeking the unusual.
Then a double-suicide occurs in one of the rooms. Furthermore, Daiichi falls ill. When the hotel faces the possibility of closure, and Masayo is thrust in charge, she begins to see what the inn really means not only to her family and the quirky staff, but also to the parade of regular and not-so-regular guests.
To see the film, click here: https://tvjapan.net/japanema/