Reviewed here a few weeks ago during Hot Docs, Last Call at the Gladstone Hotel will air tonight on TVO at 10pm.
Toronto’s landmark Gladstone Hotel has undergone many transformations over its lifetime, moving from luxurious beginnings, to post-war flophouse, to its current incarnation as a hip, artist-driven boutique hotel. But behind the window dressing lies a story of a community dealing with change. Filmmakers Derreck Roemer and Neil Graham chronicle the sale and restoration of Toronto’s oldest working hotel over a five-year period and capture the impact of this change. The film also documents two acrimonious ownership battles, stalled development plans, an emotional staff lockout and the eviction of vulnerable longtime tenants.
(Thanks to Monika Warzecha on our Facebook Group for pointing this out.)
2 comments
I saw Last Call at the Gladstone last night on TVO. It really upset me a lot. I’ve never been completely comfortable with the changes there, particularly the artist-designed reno rooms, which has always seemed a bit like rubbing salt on the wounds. However, I’ve been to so many many art events there that I am utterly complicit in the artists takeover. Also I have a lot of respect for the Zeidlers, who are doing a much different kind of work than anyone else I know, and facing the ethics of development with open eyes. Anyhow, if anyone is interested in reading more on this I just posted my own response to the movie at http://www.digitalmediatree.com/sallymckay/?40701
That’s a great review Sally. That you write a lot about the self-implication in these sort of things is important. There often tends to be a black-and-white analysis of this stuff — “Drake you Ho” sort of crap.
WRT the Gladstone — since the place was falling apart so dramatically, people would, ostensibly, have to move out one day soon too. $1500 a month for a room — I’ve often wondered how expensive these kinds of rooms are, and then how people can afford the high rents.