Hotel Sorrento Richard Franklin Film Of Australia In 1985

Directed by Richard Franklin, Hotel Sorrento was released on the 14th of July, 1985. The movie grossed a sum of $91,170 in USA. Produced by Beyond Films, Horizon Films, Australia Film and Bayside Pictures, this movie starred Caroline Goodall, Caroline Gillmer and Tara Morice, along with others, as three sisters, the protagonists Meg, Hillary and Pippa Moynihan.

Hotel Sorrento begins with the release of a fiction by Meg, based on herself and her two sisters and past events. Meg lives in London and Pippa is a business woman in New York. Hillary, a widow, lives with her son Troy and her father in their family home in Sorrento, a peaceful coastal town in Australia.

Post reunion of the three sisters, the release of the book and the death of their father, Hotel Sorrento moves into swing. Many questions arise, Troy wants to learn about his father and suddenly, the forbidden topic of Hillarys husband is suddenly brought to the fore front. The family is in an unstable state of conflict. To add to the fire, statements made by Meg about socio-political arguments ensuing between her family and neighbors Marge and Dick, are suddenly brought to question by outside parties.

Hotel Sorrento is all in all a well made film. The story line is attractive, keeping the audience in tow. But, the discussions take up too much time, making the film slow at particular times. The Hillary-Husband-Death mystery could have been given a bit more time for developing; it would have definitely made the film more interesting and quickened the pace. Whereas the different areas of the sisters lives was seen and well executed, some of them may have been cut short.

Opening out, the film did rather well, getting a decent critic review. Though on the one hand they did say Hotel Sorrento was a well made movie, they also had some points to make about the short comings of the flick. The movie was a play adapted to movie. But one must agree that a play and movie are different, and such should be maintained, a common feeling with many. The dialogues at times were too long drawn out, and slowed the pace. The Aussie critics were very generous with their reviews.

Hotel Sorrento was nominated in various categories at the AFI awards, winning The Orlando Trilogy Awards for the Best Screenplay and Best Performance by an actor in a supporting role, Ray Barrett. As of today, the movie is not heard of, resting in the rental sections gathering dust. Strange, especially when one remembers that it is a rated a quality movie in Australia. Film