Cinema in the Park presents Best Exotic Marigold Hotel at John Lawson Park West Vancouver

Event Details

event, movie
John Lawson Park

Experience the excitement of watching movies under the stars at Cinema in the Park, sponsored by West Vancouver Optometry!

John Lawson Park transforms into an outdoor cinema, showcasing a variety of films from classics to children’s films to blockbusters!

Bring your blanket and lay in the grass or bring a lawn chair (there will be some seating provided).

Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Recently widowed housewife Evelyn (Judi Dench) must sell her home to cover huge debts left by her late husband. Graham (Tom Wilkinson), a high-court judge who had spent his first eighteen years in India, abruptly decides to retire and return there. Jean (Penelope Wilton) and Douglas (Bill Nighy) seek a retirement they can afford, having lost most of their savings through investing in their daughter’s internet business. Muriel (Maggie Smith), a retired housekeeper prejudiced against Indians and every other person of colour under the sun, needs a hip replacement operation which can be done far more quickly and inexpensively in India. Madge (Celia Imrie) is hunting for another husband, and Norman (Ronald Pickup), an aging lothario, is trying to re-capture his youth. They each decide on a retirement hotel in India, based on pictures on its website.

When the group finally arrives at the picturesque hotel, despite its energetic young manager Sonny (Dev Patel), the hotel is very dilapidated. Jean remains ensconced in the hotel, while her husband Douglas explores the sights. Graham, finding that the area has greatly changed since his youth, disappears on long outings every day. Muriel, despite her xenophobia, starts to appreciate her doctor for his skill and the hotel maid for her good service. Evelyn gets a job advising the staff of a call centre how to interact with older British customers. Sonny struggles to raise funds to renovate the hotel and sees girlfriend, Sunaina (Tena Desae), despite his mother’s disapproval. Madge joins the Viceroy Club seeking a spouse, and is surprised to find Norman there. She introduces him to Carol (Diana Hardcastle). He admits he is lonely and seeking a companion, and the two begin an affair.

Graham confides in Evelyn that he is trying to find the Indian lover he was forced to abandon as a youth. Social-climber Jean is attracted to Graham, and makes a rare excursion to follow him, but is humiliated when he explains he is gay. Graham reunites with his former lover, who is in an arranged marriage of mutual trust and respect, but soon dies of a heart condition. Evelyn and Douglas grow increasingly close, angering his wife, which results in an outburst from Douglas, denouncing this marriage. Muriel reveals that she was once housekeeper to a family who had her train her younger replacement and now she feels that she has lost purpose in her life. Sonny’s more successful brothers each own a third of the hotel, and plan to demolish it. His mother (Lillete Dubey) agrees and wants him to return to Delhi for an arranged marriage. Jean and Douglas prepare to return to England. Now that the hotel is closing, Madge prepares to return to England and Norman agrees to move in with Carol. Madge, after encouragement from Carol and Muriel, decides to keep searching for another husband.

Sonny, encouraged by Evelyn, finally tells Sunaina that he loves her and confronts his mother, who first forbids the match but then is persuaded by the old man and she finally gives the couple her blessing. She asks Sunaina to take good care of her “favourite son”. Before the remaining guests can leave, Muriel reveals that the hotel can make a profit and that Sonny’s investor has agreed to fund his plans as long as Muriel stays on as assistant manager. All the guests agree to stay. Due to their daughter’s long-awaited success Jean and Douglas decide to return home but on the way to the airport their taxi gets caught in a traffic jam and a rickshaw driver says that he can only take one of them. Jean sees it as a sign that it is time to split with Douglas and bids him farewell and departs. He winds up at the wrong hotel and spends the rest of the night wandering the streets. He returns to the hotel just as Evelyn is leaving for work, and asks when she’ll be back. A closing montage with a voiceover shows Muriel checking in customers in an elegant renovated lobby, Madge dining with a handsome older Indian man, and Norman and Carol living happily together. Sonny and Sunaina are shown riding a motorbike and passing Douglas and Evelyn on another bike.

Please call us at 604-925-7268 for more information about this event or email at harmony@westvancouver.ca

Also, visit our website at www.harmonyarts.ca

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