I grew up in the 1990s. I remember at the tender age of 15, seeing PULP FICTION and being stunned by it. Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary masterpiece was and still is, a cinematic high water mark. This lead to many a Homage. As had his previous film RESERVOIR DOGS. After seeing both and then a bunch of other films from the new American film troupe, I went with a friend to see a screening of FOUR ROOMS. Championed as having four great directors (two being well known in Robert Rodriguez and Tarantino). The wise sagely Tarantino had written and produced the whole thing and of course it was in a format I really enjoyed in the anthology style (I had at that point an obsession with DEAD OF NIGHT). We entered, eyes wide and ready for the next masterpiece.
Ted the Bellhop’s (Tim Roth) is new to the Mon Signor Hotel. His first night on the job might well be his last as… the hotel’s very unusual guests are about to expect, extract, entangle and entice him into all manner of outrageous predicaments! The evening’s room service is only the start of the unbelievable goings on here. From finger cutting, witch brewing, bondage game playing and sick fire starting, its a night he and we might never forget!
Looking back 25 years late, I know my mistake. FOUR ROOMS is a shit fest of too many styles, lack of substance. A weak idea, poorly executed and delivered with the hubris of a bunch of bratty kids. Done quickly, with an eye to cash in, this is the film that revealed Tarantino as maybe not as cinematically brilliant as we (or indeed he) thought. PULP FICTION was an exception. His other films, started to wear thin. Some were not as great as they appeared. He wasn’t the Emperor new clothes mind. He was just the right person at the right time. His highest point since was JACKIE BROWN a few years later. After that wishy washy stuff and the stink from this and DESTINY TURNS ON THE RADIO never really left him.
The funny thing is that FOUR ROOMS looks so damn good for once. The 4K restoration is a work of art. Recreating the looks of the film in a sheen not seen before. I find this a testament to the imagination of a PR team. They might never have seen the film in its older sense but have seen this and thought, were do we take it. Focus on this. So few people who actually like the film, will know how good this is. The downside with this disc is that Imprint have stood firm to studio content. The actual backstory to the film is more interesting than the actual film and could have been a revelation in Weinstein logic and how artists are also hustlers.
Special Features:
- Four Directors, Four Friends, Four Rooms – Featurette
- Making Of Featurette
- Theatrical Trailer
- Housed in a glossy limited slipcase