一篇寫在多年前的英文版觀影心得《金盞花大酒店》

有一段時間為了精進口語能力，我透過線上方式和遠在英國的印度裔老師上英文課，有一次老師指定了一個觀看電影心得的作業。我選擇了金盞花大酒店第一集，當作我的主題。
I saw an interesting movie titled “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”. That day I just finished my midterm exams in graduated school. I thought that watching a DVD would be a nice choice after a tiresome written test.

The story is about 7 elder English people who accidentally went to the same hotel in India. They were convinced of some fancy advertisements on a website and booked a room in the hotel online. After a long, tiring journey, they found a hotel that was shabby, under construction, which runs by a young man. He boasted to the visitors that everything will be better, actually, it wasn’t. One of the elders named Evelyn was a widow and was obliged to sell her house to pay off her son’s debt. So she hoped to get away from her lonely life. Graham, on the other hand, was a judge who just retired and used to live in India for a period of time. Because of his help, all the other elder people found the place they were looking for.

Then Douglas and Jane were the only couples with different personalities. They lent all their money to their daughter for her cyber business and counted on a little money to move to India to live a comfortable life. And Muriel was a picky old lady with a wounded knee. She went to India for an operation. I didn’t know the reason why she had to go to a faraway country for an ordinary surgery. There is no clue shown in the film. Madge was a woman who always wanted to chase a new love affair. She moved to India to escape from her daughter who asked for Madge to be her nanny for free all the time. But she got her own problems, too. In my perception, she is so-called a social butterfly.

Norman was another lonely old man who longed for love. He was always repeatedly teased by ladies at the speed date. They thought he was too old to do “that thing”. I guess the total average age probably over 60 years. What an interesting combination!

In the movie, each one has their own troubles, including the owner of the hotel. The young owner was full of idealism but didn’t know how to run a business. He kept lying to the guests and tried to find an investor to finance support. He had a girlfriend who works at a call center. Actually, her brother owns the company. The two young lovers aren’t allowed to be together. The play writer hinted they were not from the same social class or social status.

As time went by, the judge came out of the closet and told everyone that he was gay. The purpose of this journey was to find his playmate at a young age. He finally found him after trying all kinds of methods. At the end of the movie, he met a man with gray hair and a beard. Although his true love was married, they still love each other. One morning, He died of a heart attack with a smile on his face. Jane fell in love with the judge and was out of control. After knowing the truth, she broke with her husband and went back to England.

Douglas and the widow, Evelyn had a feeling for each other. Madge helped Norman to have a love affair with a beautiful old lady. As to Muriel, she was a housekeeper when she was young. No wonder she was so picky that everyone didn’t like her. She developed her management skills and let the hotel start to earn money. Due to this hotel, everyone found their second life. All the actors and actresses were fantastic! Some of them won several remarkable awards in England and US. There are some brilliant proverbs about life in the film. Since I am not a native speaker, I couldn’t quote them at once. I do not regret spending 2 hours watching it.

I rewound the DVD and found an interesting saying, “Everything will be all right at the end. If it still isn’t all right, it isn’t the end yet.” What words of wisdom!