Famous word renowned Japanese author Keigo Higashino has done it again with his penmanship. He originally wrote Masquerade Hotel as a novel that was released in 2011. Most of his novels get adapted into some form of film or drama. Masquerade Hotel soon followed suit, being directed by Masayuki Siziki and staring popular Idol singer turned actor, Takuya Kimura along side Masami Nagasawa. There's also a supporting cast consisted of many up and coming talent such as Nanao, Ryo Katsuji, and Yuki Izumisawa.
A murder who is famous for leaving behind clues for the crimes he(?) has committed has yet to caught. The police is hot on his trail and the murderer's tracks have led them to a popular hotel run by an excellent staff who's sole purpose is to make sure the customers staying there are satisfied. One of the police officers is picked to go undercover to catch the killer before he or she has the chance to kill again. He doesn't know that running a hotel full of guests with different personalities isn't a walk in the park. Plus the murderer could be hiding among them.
Masquerade Hotel comes off as the type of film that it's really not in the trailer. Adaptions of Keigo's works normally range from one kind of emotional story telling to the other. Just under the mystery genre. This film presents itself as a hotel murder mystery that has the murderer hiding among a cast of people. What the film won't tell you is the film doesn't try to present itself as a murder mystery at all. Talks of murder is discussed among the characters, giving them a motive for why they do what they do. However, Masquerade Hotel puts the murder mystery on the back burner several times without actually caring that it strays away from what it "suppose" to be the core of this story. Instead you get introduced to a cast full of different people who have their own problems and them bring these problems to the hotel. None of these character are in the hotel with each other at the same time though. Plot lines do somehow crossover into each other as to stop Masquerade Hotel from being a in cohesive project of epic proportions. Some people might even call Masquerade Hotel a train wreck because the film isn't about what was promoted in it's trailer. I'm not sure if this fact was some kind of mystery ploy in itself but I was turned around like a ball trying to figure out what this film was trying to say. The film progresses on and you get to the reveal of the truth which turned out to not be as interesting as the two main leads relationship with each other. Honestly, the character interaction between the two leads was more of a mystery worth exploring than any half baked murder case this script try to give viewers. I didn't expect to leave Masquerade Hotel not giving two fucks about the murder case I came for but instead feeling satisfied seeing the characters growth after they went through such an experience.
In all honesty, the cast made this film through and through. The chemistry between the two leads dazzles on screen. Their dazzle shines so bright that you can overlook the misfires of the script. Every single actor and actress from the up and coming to the veterans gave the best they had. Thankfully their efforts stopped this film from falling flat. I almost didn't like this film but something told me to go back and look into what the film was trying to speak to the viewer. What I got from the performances is that Masquerade Hotel's mystery is human bonds we form in various times in our lives. Certain bonds we form are beyond our control. Other bonds are formed without us even realizing that we have created them with another. This was the message I got when watching Masquerade Hotel. Nanao is also one of my favorite newer Japanese actresses…. I'm always happy to see her getting more roles.
Where ever the set on location was looked really gorgeous. The hotel had a design that was beyond even a billionaire's tax bracket. Most of the time I had my mouth open staring in shock at the overall appearance of the hotel. It was nice…… super upscale considering that the place didn't even look like it was in Japan. I don't know what type of games they were trying to play……… I'm here for it though.
I was reading some of the comments about this film and I agree with one that I saw. The comment said that Masquerade Hotel should have been a show and I completely agree. Masquerade Hotel could have worked in the same fashion as the Galileo TV drama that also inspired films. Keigo Higashino's stories never don't have enough room to expand.
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