Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Film for Dreamers, June 27, 2005
This Sam Pillsbury film from New Zealand, starring Peter Phelps and Greer Robson, is a heartrending story of friendship and love. The two leads are truly magnificent. We don't realize how much we have come to care for these two souls in this quietly moving story until it is over, and we are left with a feeling in our hearts that stays with us a long time.
Young Patrick Dawson (Peter Phelps) is running from the New Zealand law for assualt on a reposseser. Dawson worked for the man until one night when he takes all the possesions back to the families they came from. This leads to a scuffle in which his boss is put into a coma. Flashbacks tell the backstory and we learn of Dawson's bitterness over the first world war, and disillusionment that the girl he loved married someone else while he was away.
Kate (Greer Robson) is a sweet, lonely young teenage girl who has lost her mother and runs away to find her father, who has gone to Wellington to find work. She meets Patrick and from the moment they are mistaken for family we know that the two will travel together. Kate slowly grows on him as a special bond is formed between the two dreamers.
The movie itself is dreamlike and compelling, and also romantic. Kate is only around thirteen, and as Patrick begins to care for her, they fight and argue as an older brother and younger sister would. But gradually she comes to mean more. We see just how much she means to him when he loses her in a riot and misses his ship to Australia in a desperate search to find her. He will risk his own freedom to save her. Another tender scene has Patrick taking flowers from another headstone for Kate to place on her mother's.
Robson is luminous and Phelps gives realism to the young yet world weary Patrick. They give memorable performances in a beautifully filmed story. Director Pillsbury shows the young couples' feelings changing, yet goes no further, allowing the viewer to imagine them in the future. A touching ending seems more like a beginning, the viewer aching to know what the future holds for Kate and Patrick. This is a tender film which holds a special place in the hearts of all who bothered to see it when it first came out. It may never make it to dvd, so don't wait a moment to see this very special film almost everyone missed. Check into the "Starlight Hotel" and enjoy this wonderful film for dreamers.....
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
this film change my life!!!!, May 15, 2001
By A Customer
I saw this film in Mexico City on December '94... almost seven years ago!!!! Since the first time a saw Starlight Hotel, my life change, i think it's not necesary to explain exactly how, but i found another way to see life. The friendship between Kate and Patrick, all the risks they face together and how they care each other, make this story unique. I really love this film, and in some way i would like to be part of the story... i would like to visit the locations in New Zealand, i would like to meet Greer Robson and Peter Phelps, and ask them what does this film mean for them. Sadly, i don't know anything about them in the last years. One thing i learn from this story, besides love and friendship, is the courage to reach all our dreams, no matter what we have to do!!! By the years, i'm sure of something, Starlight Hotel is my all time favorite film, i have no doubt about it. By the way, I have a VHS tape with this film translate to spanish, but it's to old and i have no idea of how i can get the original video of this film (so if somebody can help me, i'll thank you very much).
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Story for Dreamers, May 21, 2001
This is no action film but a quiet, thoughtful story about two people, with beautiful New Zealand scenery as a backdrop. I even found and bought the book it was based on ("The Dream Monger" -- I had to get it from New Zealand, it's out of print and absolutely no one else had it), in which Patrick actually teams up with a boy instead of a girl. The book was good, but the movie was definately improved by making Kate a girl.I love the scenery, the slowly developing friendship, the sometimes embaressing and awkward moments, and the tenderness the war veteran finds himself showing. I could've done without some of the language but over all, liked this video very much and would recommend it to anyone with similar tastes.
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