An anthology uses Room 720 to connect intimate encounters across changing periods of the twentieth century.
Story Structure — 6 Plot Phases
A Marriage Under Pressure
The opening story takes place in the 1920s. A young woman endures a tense honeymoon after being married against her will to a brutal man.
Key Events
Omnibus Structure Introduced — The film presents separate stories set in the same hotel room across the twentieth century.
Location: Room 720
Room 720 Established — Room 720 is established as the recurring setting for stories from different periods.
Location: Room 720
1920s Honeymoon Begins — A young woman enters a honeymoon shaped by a marriage she did not choose.
Location: Room 720
Forced Marriage Revealed — The young woman is described as married against her will to a brutal man.
Location: Room 720
Tense Honeymoon — The first story develops as a tension-filled honeymoon.
Location: Room 720
The Unexpected First Meeting
During the Depression, a mail-order bride from China arrives to meet her husband. Their first meeting becomes the central event of the segment.
Key Events
Depression Era Transition — The narrative moves from the 1920s to the period of the Depression.
Location: Room 720
Mail Order Bride Arrives — A mail-order bride from China reaches the hotel room during the Depression.
Location: Room 720
First Meeting With Husband — The bride meets her husband for the first time.
Location: Room 720
Homecoming After War
Following World War II, a soldier returns home and encounters both his girlfriend and his best friend. The segment focuses on this postwar reunion.
Key Events
Postwar Return — After World War II, a soldier returns home.
Location: Room 720
Soldier Meets Girlfriend — The returning soldier meets his girlfriend in the hotel room.
Location: Room 720
Best Friend Reunited — The soldier also reunites with his best friend.
Location: Room 720
Postwar Relationship Tension — The postwar story centers on the soldier, his girlfriend, and his best friend.
Location: Room 720
A Search In Paranoia
In the paranoid 1950s, a professor searches for his wife. The search gives the room a mysterious and anxious atmosphere.
Key Events
1950s Paranoia Begins — The film shifts into a paranoid 1950s setting.
Location: Room 720
Professor Searches — A professor searches for his wife.
Location: Room 720
Missing Wife Mystery — The professor's search for his wife forms the central action of this segment.
Location: Room 720
Desire And Debt
The 1980s story follows a lawyer overwhelmed by sex and debt. His situation presents a more excessive and unstable form of intimacy.
Key Events
1980s Lawyer Arrives — The narrative moves to the 1980s and follows a lawyer.
Location: Room 720
Sex And Debt Spiral — The lawyer is described as having excessive sex and debt.
Location: Room 720
A Digital Appointment
At the dawn of the millennium, a woman enters a newly refurbished Room 720. She has come to meet an Internet lover, completing the film's sequence of encounters.
Key Events
Millennium Room Refurbished — At the dawn of the millennium, Room 720 has been newly refurbished.
Location: Room 720
Internet Lover Encounter — A woman comes to the refurbished room to meet her Internet lover.
Location: Room 720
Century Of Encounters — The recurring room connects intimate encounters across multiple twentieth-century periods.
Location: Room 720
Story Breakdown
Recurring Room — The same hotel room provides the structural link between otherwise separate stories.
Room 720 — Every tale takes place in the recurring hotel room.
Changing Centuries — The stories move through different twentieth-century periods.
Forced Honeymoon — The 1920s story centers on a young woman trapped in an unwanted marriage.
Unwanted Marriage — The woman has been married against her will.
Brutal Husband — Her husband is described as a brutal man.
Depression Encounter — A mail-order bride meets her husband for the first time during the Depression.
Chinese Bride — The bride comes from China through a mail-order arrangement.
First Meeting — She encounters her husband for the first time.
Postwar Reunion — A returning soldier meets two important people after World War II.
Soldier Returns — The soldier comes home after the war.
Two Reunions — He meets his girlfriend and his best friend.
Paranoid Search — A professor searches for his wife in the atmosphere of the 1950s.
Professor Arrives — The professor is placed at the center of the 1950s segment.
Wife Missing — His search for his wife drives the story.
Lawyer's Excess — The 1980s segment follows a lawyer defined by sexual excess and debt.
Too Much Sex — The lawyer is described as having excessive sex.
Mounting Debt — Debt is a central part of the lawyer's situation.
Digital Encounter — The final story brings a woman to a refurbished room to meet an Internet lover.
Refurbished Room — Room 720 has been newly refurbished at the millennium.
Online Lover — The woman arrives for a meeting with her Internet lover.
David Weaver makes his feature debut with this omnibus film in which each tale is told during different points during the 20th century, but in the same hotel room -- room 720. The film opens during the swinging '20s when a beautiful young woman, married against her will to a brutish thug of a man, endures a tension-fraught honeymoon. During the Depression segment, a mail-order bride from China meets her husband for the first time. Following the end of WWII, a soldier returns home to meet his girlfriend and his best friend. During the paranoia of the 1950s, a professor searches for his wife. During the 1980s, a lawyer has too much sex and debt, and during the dawn of the millennium, a woman comes to a newly refurbished room 720 to meet her Internet lover. Such acclaimed Canadian actors as Tom McCamus, Sandrine Holt, and Colm Feore star in this film, which was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival.
