The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

Movie Info

Welcome to the Grand Budapest Hotel!

An author (Tom Wilkinson) tells the story of his greatest tale…a tale of the Grand Budapest Hotel in Zubrowka.  As a young writer (Jude Law), he heard the story of Zero Moustafa (F. Murray Abraham) who was a young man at the Grand Budapest Hotel in 1968.  There Zero (Tony Revolori) starts his job at the Grand Budapest Hotel in 1932 as a war approaches.  A new lobby boy, Zero finds himself siding with the concierge Monsieur Gustave H. (Ralph Fiennes) who is caught in the middle of a murder mystery involved a wealthy elderly lover named Madame Celine Villeneuve Desgoffe und Taxis (tilde Swinton) and the plot of her son Dmitri Desgoffe und Taxis (Adrien Brody) and his henchman J.G. Jopling (Willem Dafoe) to prevent Gustave H. from inheriting a fortune.

Written and directed by Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel is Wes Anderson’s eighth film and follow-up to his award winning Moonrise Kingdom in 2012.  The film was released to rave reviews and a Golden Globe win for Best Musical or Comedy.  The movie received Oscars for Best Original Score, Best Film Editing, Best Costume Design, and Best Makeup and Hair and nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Film Editing.

Channeling Hitchcock! Wes Anderson’s take on Hitch’s type of movies would be interesting!

I love Wes Anderson films and have loved him for years as his fame, popularity, and critical acclaim has grown.  Surprisingly, I didn’t rush out and see The Grand Budapest Hotel.  I always have this weird debate with popularity and acclaim.  Sometimes, what is acclaimed by the masses feels like dumbed down, attainable versions of art films that are too high brow.   The Grand Budapest Hotel doesn’t feel like this.  It feels like Anderson’s continued quest to change and evolve his brand.

Anderson credits Austrian writer Stefan Zweig for inspiring the story and screenplay.  Anderson is always great however in finding his own voice in everything he makes, be it an adaptation like Fantastic Mr. Fox or something original like Rushmore.  Anderson’s screenplay for the story is quite good and I always love layered stories (aka stories within stories within stories).  Anderson manages to tell a poignant tale that can range from drama and horror to like and funny slapstick.

I bet our love will last forever and ever!

Wes Anderson always brings his player to the game and part of the fun of Anderson’s films is to see who he adds to his pallet and how he reuses the performers he already has utilizes.  The cast is a great ensemble cast that all could have been cited for their performances.  I do think that Tony Revolori has to be noted for a breakout performance as the young bellhop Zero who is devoted to Monsieur Gustave H. and his love Agatha played by Saoirse Ronan.

The visuals of the movie are like many of Wes Anderson’s visuals.  A difference this time involves the sequences dividing up scenes and locations.  Often the movie goes into an almost Monty Python-esque animated style similar to Terry Gilliam.  Wes Anderson also shows depth in scene like the segment where Jeff Goldblum’s character is being pursued by Willem Dafoe…it takes on a darker almost film noir style that leaves me wanting Anderson to make a true noir film.

The Grand Budapest Hotel was worth the wait, but now I wish I had seen it sooner since it did turn out to be a strong film.  Wes Anderson films (even the weaker ones) all have merit.  I always look forward to what he’ll due and his use of the screen.  Anderson followed The Grand Budapest Hotel with the stop-motion animated film Isle of Dogs in 2018.