In an unspecified future Japan, nightclub singer and call girl Sandii is hired by Tokyo-based, freelance industrial spies Fox and X, who specialize in helping R&D scientists defect from corporations that would rather kill them than see them work for a competitor. The two men have been hired by Japanese firm Hosaka to assist a coveted genius in a risky defection from the Maas Corporation. That’s where Sandii comes in. She is tasked with seducing the scientist into defecting.
Seduction comes naturally to Sandii, whose bedroom eyes and ample cleavage signal sex at every turn. It’s no wonder X quickly falls under her spell. Things go off the rails for the spies and it becomes apparent that Sandii, who disappears, is working as a double agent for Maas, who set up Fox and X as fall guys for the mission’s failure. Even then, Sandii’s hold over X only intensifies. As he hides out from Hosaka in the New Rose Hotel, a suicidal X masturbates to the memory of his last night with Sandii before she disappeared.
Based on William Gibson’s cyberpunk l story of the same name from 1984, Abel Ferrara’s New Rose Hotel (1998) pads out an extremely short story into a talky, surrealist feature length film. It’s an oddly mesmerizing watch, making you feel both detached and invested in the characters, all at once. Certainly, Walken (Fox) and Dafoe (X) are always electric onscreen, and they’re no less interesting than usual here. And, as the deceitful Sandii, Asia Argento is extremely alluring, which certainly intensifies the mesmerizing factor.
Like Fox, many of us would also succumb to Sandii’s deceit. Pure sex on two legs, Asia looks magnificent in the film. From her perfectly tousled bob to her eye-catching cleavage, which Ferrara is keen to lens, and on down to her frequent nudity, she exudes a hypnotic sway throughout. I’ve long had a weakness for Asia onscreen, be it thanks to a general affliction for sultry Italian vixens, or to her impressive lineage—the daughter of Italian horror maestro Dario Argento and his frequent collaborator, writer-actress Daria Nicolodi—or, simply, because of her scorching sex appeal. Most likely, it’s all of the above. What I’m saying is that I fundamentally get Dafoe’s character’s dilemma in New Rose Hotel.
After all, Sandii’s body is a tool in her arsenal of seduction. She weaponizes sex in service of ambition. X, like many of us, is simply an easy mark. Whether she had feelings for X or not, she ultimately sells him out for a higher payday. And afterward, there’s X, desperate and alone, yet still enthralled by the memories of Sandii’s sexual prowess. Relatable content, amirite?
The Starfire Lounge 