Hotel Coolgardie is an engaging, human tale that follows two Finnish travelers in the Australian outback. Following the theift of their credit cards they are forced to find work in a small mining town east of Perth where lodging is provided. In this isolated and harsh environment, Lina and Steph encounter continunous drunken, chauvinistic behaviour from the patrons (and bar manager for that matter),behaviour the two outgoing barmaids seemed to imbrace. To Lina and Steph's credit they handle their work under these horrible conditions with grace and even form bonds with some of the locals, Lina in particular.

While the sexism on display is predictable and uncomfortable to watch, there's also a loneliness and sadness to the locals portrayed. Some of the drunken interactions are amusingly cringeworthy, with their macho behaviour exposed to be very fragile at times. I almost felt a degree of sympathy for them.

This was a moving, well paced documentary where I felt genuine care for the two travellers. I would thoughorly recommend. 8.5/10

"Hotel Coolgardie" is a documentary about a couple Finnish women who have lost all their money while world traveling and end up taking a three-month job working in a hellish town in the middle of no where. The film seems to have little in the way of theme other than to show how trashy the locals can be and how they treat (and often mistreat) the ladies.

The film is set in Coolgardie in Western Australia. Coolgardie is a town of 850 folks and apparently there's really nothing for the miners to do other than hang out at the local bar during their off hours. There, you see many of them getting drunk as well as sexually and verbally harassing the ladies. Among the worst is the owner, who treats them as if they are complete morons.

So is this film enjoyable? Good grief, no!! But I did notice in the various reviews from Australians that this IS an accurate portrayal of the culture in some of these tiny, isolated Australian towns. I've been to the country and had a great time, though I also went no where near this portion of the country....and in hindsight, that might be a good thing.

Here's my verdict. If you want a film that shows you how awful tiny towns in Australia can be, this is the perfect film. If you want a film uplifting or fun, well, there's not a lot to like about this one. Not only are the folks mostly unpleasant but the quality of the film itself isn't great...with too much use of the 'jerky cam', little in the way of direction as well as no narration,... as well as just too much! In other words, the film could easily have been only about 20 minutes to show how dreadful the place is. I felt there was no need to see more and more and more of the life and people there....as I found myself just not caring after a while. If you DO stick with it, things take a very dark and interesting turn late in the film...but I don't want to ruin it and say more.

By the way, I visited quite a few Australian pubs (all in the much more populous Victoria and New South Wales) and I never saw anything remotely like I saw in this film. I am not being critical or necessarily doubting what is in the film...just saying I saw nothing like it.

It's safe to say that Hotel Coolgardie won't be being used by Tourism Australian anytime soon to help drive backpackers and tourists to our undeniable beautiful, yet sometimes harsh and almost medieval like landscape filled with both the very best and some of the very poorest of human behaviours.

Like an updated real-life version of Ted Kotcheff's 1971 Australian based cult-classic Wake in Fright, Pete Gleeson's documentary, that follows a few months in the lives of Finnish backpackers Lina and Stephie as they try to earn money and experience Australia as barmaids in the small Western Australian mining centric town of Coolgardie is a raw, insightful and painstakingly honest portrayal of the oft-unspoken drinking culture at the heart of many Australian communities and the casual sexism, racism and arrogance that comes along with it.

For those that view the Australian culture through rose-tinted glasses, Hotel Coolgardie will be a real shock to the system.

Gleeson's camera never flinches as Lina and Stephie experience a range of confronting and often hard to watch scenes. From drunk patrons talking to them about deeply personal and utterly wrong ruminations of why they can't find the right woman, through to abusive and highly offensive comments made to them by their employer, Hotel Coolgardie shows things how it is making it an effective and in many ways important showcase for the underbelly of our great yet sometimes sadly disappointing country and those that call themselves true Australians.

It's not all doom and gloom here however as Gleeson's documentary still shines a light on much of the good that makes Australia such a desired destination.

From the friendly patron of the girls pub known as the Canman though to Stephie friendship with a kind-hearted yet troubled local, Hotel Coolgardie reminds us all that underneath some of the rough and tough exterior lies some genuine care, affection and spirit that is sometimes sadly squashed by a harsh exterior, built up over time to combat the very nature of a town and its citizens of a community such as Coolgardie.

Final Say -

While the film would've benefited greatly from Lina and Stephie being more purely likeable central figures and for us to know more about their situations and road to this point in their lives, Hotel Coolgardie is an often fascinating look into a taboo subject matter and an under-examined aspect of core Australian traditions and lifestyle.

3 ½ camping trips out of 5