Customer Reviews

White Hotel [VHS]

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"White Hotel" is an extraordinary documentary which details the struggle for survival in the most brutal and dismal of environments. Filmmakers Dianne Griffin and Tobi Solvang traveled to Eritrea, a small and extremely poor republic in eastern Africa, to create a video record of the devastation created by the AIDS pandemic on that country's population. The result is a heartbreaking story of a health crisis which shows no signs of abatement, not to mention a human tragedy which has been virtually ignored in the West. Clearly, "White Hotel" is one of the most important documentaries of this decade.

Hmmm... I saw this video recently and I found it to have good and bad qualities. I'll start with the former. I found the fact that they taped it with a consumer quality camera to give the film a certain unique and realistic feel. You could believe that these images weren't from hollywood. Secondly, the film did present some information and insight as to the conditions of Eritrea at that time. Now for the latter...

Why on earth do the two authors of this work talk about their own lives one quarter of the film? One concerns herself with her father who has just past and tells us of his past drinking habits. The other becomes romantically involved with a local inhabitant and dares to have unprotected sex with him. And to think this whole documentary is about AIDS!

Overall, it was something interesting to watch, however I wouldn't recommend one purchase it at such a steep price. See if your local library has it first!