A wonderful short documentary as Alan Bennett explores the Crown Hotel in Harrogate UK. It's an interesting mix; some stolen moments of hotel guests interacting, often filled with real dialogue that could be right out of one of Bennett's witty, and affectionately satirical pieces about people from all of Britain's various walks of life. But the piece is dominated by Bennett himself, musing to camera on the boyhood memories that are brought back by the various sights, sounds and characters at the hotel. A little like Bennet's "Telling Tales" in that sense, but I found this often even more touching, less theatrical; it's real life setting giving it context. Bennett also seems more relaxed here, speaking even more directly from the heart.
This would make a fascinating double bill with Chantal Akerman's short documentary "Hotel Monterey". That brilliant piece is wordless, giving us the flavor of a run down hotel in New York City just through long, wordless lingering images – an almost experimental film. Here, it's just the opposite, the images are important, but it's words that carry the day; mostly Bennett's wonderful prose, but also the captured words of the various guests, young, old, rich and working class.