December 5th: THE MILLION DOLLAR HOTEL (Wim Wenders, 2000)

After a man mysteriously dies at a downtown transient hotel, the FBI agent sent in to investigate must extract the truth from its colorful, eccentric residents.

Director Wim Wenders is a key member of the New German Cinema of the 1960s and 70s, alongside Werner Herzog and Rainer Werner Fassbinder. At university originally studying medicine and philosophy, he dropped out to become a painter, but soon fell under the spell of cinema and went to film school in Munich. His successful "Road Movie" trilogy led him to Hollywood, working with legendary director Nicholas Ray, Francis Ford Coppola's Zoetrope company, and Sam Shepard on Paris, Texas, winner of the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1984.

Upon returning to Berlin, he had another international arthouse hit with the existential fantasy Wings of Desire, and at the beginning of the 1990s began a long collaboration with rock band U2. Wenders directed some of the band's videos, and they contributed songs to several of his films including Until the End of the World and The End of Violence. Back in 1987, while shooting a video in downtown Los Angeles, the band's frontman Bono was captivated by the contradiction of a building on Skid Row being called "The Million Dollar Hotel". Originally conceived as a play, he brought the idea to previous Wenders collaborator Nicholas Klein, and the two developed characters and a story around the street denizens of the area.

Wenders spent a considerable amount of time casting, the number of featured roles larger than what he was accustomed to. The cast includes Jeremy Davies (TV's Lost), Milla Jovovich (Resident Evil), Jimmy Smits (TV's Sons of Anarchy), Gloria Stuart (Titanic), Peter Stormare (The Big Lebowski), Bud Cort (Harold and Maude), Richard Edson (Stranger Than Paradise), Amanda Plummer (Pulp Fiction), Tim Roth, and Mel Gibson.

For authenticity, the decision was made to shoot on location at the Million Dollar Hotel and the surrounding part of downtown. Davies and Jovovich checked into the building as guests for two weeks before shooting to familiarize themselves with the atmosphere and people. The production had to reckon with incidents not uncommon on the block including gun violence, police raids, suicide, and a rat infestation of the hotel.

Some of the crew were new to working with Wenders, including Greek cinematographer Phedon Papamichael (Sideways, Nebraska), production designer Robert Freed, and art director Bella Serrell. Instrumental cues and songs for the film were composed and recorded by an array of rock and jazz veterans, including U2, Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois, John Hassell, Bill Frisell, Brad Mehldau, Brian Blades, and L.A. punk veteran Tito Larriva.

The Million Dollar Hotel debuted at the Berlin Film Festival, where it won the second place Silver Bear prize. It received nominations at the German Film Awards for Best Film and Best Director. It did not fare as well stateside, where it received middling reviews and was only released in select cities.

Running time is 2 hours.