Product Details

• Actors: Bianca Bakija, Kevin Corrigan, Vincent D'Onofrio, Rosario Dawson, Matthew Del Negro
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Lions Gate
• DVD Release Date: August 6, 2002
• Run Time: 110 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0000694Z2
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #53,063 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Chelsea Walls" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Ethan Hawke directs this starving-artist mood piece set in a famous New York hotel. A loose collection of artists and lonely souls waft in and out of the Chelsea in what is more a slice-of-life mood piece than a drama. The film (shot entirely on digital video) is best recommended for those who still subscribe to the notion that all artists are emotional wrecks with substance-abuse problems and that this is somehow romantic. The characters speak in poetry as often as not. If you are of a poetic bent, you may find this quirk beautiful, but more prosaic souls will find it embarrassing at best. The cast, however, is excellent. Kris Kristofferson, Vincent D'Onofrio, Rosario Dawson, Robert Sean Leonard, and Steve Zahn all do fine work, especially given the difficult dialogue and frequently inadequate natural lighting. Natasha Richardson gives a particularly memorable performance--sadly, her role is all too abbreviated. --Ali Davis

Product Description

The chelsea hotel used to be the hippest place to live for new york artists. Painters writers and musicians from mark twain to jimi hendrix enlivened the hotels halls. Now even though the iron facade has become rusty a new generation of dreamers inhabit the hotel. Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 07/20/2004 Starring: Rosario Dawson Kris Kristofferson Run time: 109 minutes Rating: R Director: Ethan Hawke

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars People need to know a bit about the film before trashing it., November 11, 2005

By	Russell Brown "movie and music junkie" (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Like most positive reviews, I'm a bit surprised at the bile being spent on this film when I think it's one of the finest films I've seen all year. When I was in NYC I had to go see the Hotel and someday I plan to spend some time there myself.

The movie is a bit of an experiement - some project group was giving 100K I think for a budget to shoot films on digital video - and so of course, it has some issues, but they work well for this movie - They give the environment some additional character - These people who bitch about lighting are the same ones who bitch about the lighting in Russian Ark and totally miss what is in many ways, a breakthrough in indepenedent Cinema. No longer are filmmakers required to budget for film (which is a major expense) - it can all be saved and edited digitally.

And that's not even going into the story - I fell in love with Rosario Dawson's Character, and totally understood Robert Sean Leonard's character as well (being a part time guitar player from MN myself who feels he's spinning his wheels) - And of course, this is an adaptation of a play, so you're not gonna have the grand sweeping car chases or explosions -

It's a terrible film for those who need their drama served up in portions of sex and violence, but as a study of the artistic condition, it blows me away.

And the music and poetry in the film rock too -

RB

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A creative 'moment to moment' collage, January 9, 2005

By	Darren (Jersey Shore, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

An assortment of highly talented actors paint the canvas of this very creative collage of artistic, tormented and lonely lives, set in NYC's Chelsea Hotel. Don't expect a plot of any narrative coherence but rather a series of vignettes rich in emotions depicting love, loneliness and the simplicity of daily human living.

The dialogue and simple emotional exchange between Kris Kristofferson and Tuesday Weld in one scene is superbly rich. There is also some excellent acting by Vince D'Onofrio and Uma Thurman.

The music by Jeff Tweedy of Wilco really sets the emotional mood for this 'moment to moment' film and some guitar playing and folky music by Robert Sean Leonard is a pleasant surprise. Other noteworthy surprises include a performance by jazz veteran, Little Jimmy Scott (which adds immensely to the collage of diverse personalities and also to the mood of the soundtrack) and a cameo from Issac Hayes in an elevator scene.

Director, Ethan Hawke does a fine job of painting from a diverse palette of actors whose emotions richly color these Chelsea Walls.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Poem as Film, Film as Poem, March 8, 2003

By	Wayne Klick (Albuquerque, NM USA) - See all my reviews

I think if Charles Bukowski, Dylan Thomas, and Fellini collaborated on a piece of writing, it's possible they would have come up with this screenplay. This movie is exciting because it's soooo different from anything I've ever seen. Deliciously non-linear. The substance abuse aspect is a little overdone but that's the destiny of "artist movies". I loved hearing the dialog, and Kristofferson's acting is the best I've ever seen by him. Anything so daring and so unconventional will naturally upset some people (like other reviewers here), but if you ask me that only validates the work. If ever I go to New York City, the Hotel Chelsea will be at the top of my list of places to visit. My favorite lines were by the crazy guy in the elevator, who after claiming to have had a conversation with Dylan Thomas said that ghosts naturally reside in places like the Chelsea because people will listen to them there. The DVD extras contain a couple of quirky interviews, one with director Ethan Hawke and the other with Robert Sean Leonard who plays a deeply troubled folksinger in the film.