Hotel Harabati, a bizarre yet intriguing drama from first-time director Brice Cauvin, is one of the fine movies included in the 2007 Cinefranco Film Festival lineup. It’s about a Parisian couple with two small children who have not had a vacation since their honeymoon ten years earlier.

On a whim, Philippe (Laurent Lucas) and Marion (Hélène Fillières) pack their bags and head to Charleville Station where they anxiously await the arrival of a train to Venice.  An Arab gentleman sits down next to Marion and starts asking her where she and Lucas are headed. The man’s cellphone rings. He excuses himself to answer the call, then picks up his jacket. In his haste, he forgets to take his leather travel bag with him.

Marion notices the bag first and tells Philippe. Unable to find the owner, they realize it belongs to the Middle-Eastern gentleman Marion spoke with earlier. The two believe he must have boarded his train and was too preoccupied to notice it was missing. Philippe discovers a label written in Arabic on the bag. Unable to understand it, he then notices “Harabati and tel” written in English. Phillippe thinks “tel” stands for Hotel and that the man had either just been to or was headed for the Hotel Harabati.

Philippe goes to the station’s lost and found booth where he panics because two police officers are standing at the front counter. Philippe thinks it odd that the officers would be standing there. He assumes they know about the bag and are searching for it because the owner must be a terrorist.

Instead of proceeding to Venice, Philippe and Marion return home to open the travel bag. After struggling with its lock in vain, they are able to pry the bag open with a knife and find row upon row of Middle-Eastern currency inside. They decide not to take the bag to a police station, for Philippe fears the police will question them and link them to the terrorists. The pair chooses to tell what they feel is a harmless little lie to people they know, mainly that they just returned from Venice.

Philippe seems convinced the bag is connected to terrorists who are hunting for him and his wife. Although an architect, he’s unable to complete any of his blueprints on time because of this disturbing fear. Philippe’s supervisor finally terminates him.

As for Marion, she’s petrified after a photo lab accidentally mixes up her roll of film with someone else’s vacation photos of Venice. Believing terrorists have switched her photos on purpose, she continues to have visions of being followed by the man she met at the train station.

The intense Hotel Harabati, co-written by director Cauvin and screenwriter Jerome Beaujoir, is a well-executed film with many twists and turns. Lucas delivers a standout performance here with his brilliant portrayal of a man completely consumed by intoxicating delusions.

Hotel Harabati will be screened on March 28th, 2007, at the Cinefranco Film Festival in Toronto, Canada. For tickets, call (416)967-1528 or log onto www.cinefranco.com.

(Released by Films Distribution and rated “R” as not suitable for viewers under age 18.)