Hotel Infinity (2004)

Director:

Amanda Boyle

Writer:

Amanda Boyle (writer)

Genre:

Short | Drama | Fantasy

Plot:

There was once a hotel in the mountains that was so popular with guests, the manager decided to extend it...

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Favian White	...	Chinese Boy
Tom Yang	...	Father / Manager
Rosie Marcel	...	Receptionist
Haoyu Zhang	...	Narrator
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Leke Adebayo
Justina Asiedu
Glenn Conroy
Mary Healey
Kelicia Holt
Laticia Holt
James Hope
Surinder Mahta
Jodie Peach
Stuart Quentin-Holmes
Jimi the Quiff
Remy Salim
Jill Spurrier
Jake Tassell

Runtime:

9 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Filming Locations:

Bethnal Green Town Hall, Bethnal Green, London, England, UK

Company:

Picture Farm

Trivia:

This film is based around David Hilbert's Paradox of the Grand Hotel; a mathematical paradox relating to infinity. In the presentation of this paradox a hotel with an infinite number of rooms, and an infinite number of checked-in guests, can be shown to accommodate arbitrary numbers of additional guests, which raises interesting questions regarding countable infinities and the implausibility of real-world infinite objects.

Interesting and comic story

Once upon a time there was a hotel in the mountains that was so popular that it decided to expand. However, even as it tried to add more and more rooms the guests just kept filling them. Eventually though, the hotel became infinitely big to the point where room numbers were assigned by complex mathematical formulae and the slogan became "we're always full but we always have room for you". However when an accident occurs, the formulae is thrown out of whack and, try as he might, the manager can no longer find the empty rooms that he knows, logically, must exist.

As the title suggests, this is about a hotel that has no ending but in this case the manager cannot find out where these infinite rooms are and is forced into making everyone move one or two rooms up – thus filling the infinite rooms and freeing up the rooms that he can locate. The idea is interesting even though it lacks any real sense or logic; it is delivered with a nice comic touch that helps it be quite enjoyable. It doesn't amount to a great deal of course but it is quite a "nice" short film that is a little different from others things you'll have seen. The cast are pretty good and the presence of the young boy helps bring consistency to the story even if he is not totally understood within the context of the narrative.

Although it is not fascinating or hilarious it is both interesting and amusing. These factors added to the unique feel make it a worthwhile watch even if it won't stick with you for any significant length of time.