The Grand Budapest Hotel

Movie, 2014, R

Premise - An old lady dies and leaves behind in her will a valuable painting to the man accused of her murder. The family does not wish to give it to this man, Gustave, who has been disgracefully sleeping with the old lady at the Grand Budapest Hotel. Gustave, along with his new lobby boy, decide to steal the painting, liquidize it, take the profits and run for it.

Review - My, oh, my, what a marvelous film. I've made reference to it in multiple other posts as the first Wes Anderson film I had ever seen. On the one hand, I'm upset I didn't watch any of his films earlier. On the other hand, I'm glad that when I finally saw this film, it was with the proper historical and cultural context. This film does not only deserve to be watched, but to be thoroughly dissected. I had the pleasure of studying this film in a Comparative Literature course on Zweig's turn-of-the-century Vienna (this film was based on writings by Stefan Zweig).

Even when watching this film on a surface level, it is hilariously entertaining. What a great cast! In Wes Anderson's style, everything is filmed straight on or at a 90 degree angle, and his shots are eerily symmetrical. I even got a double dose of that symmetry when I first saw this film playing on two side-by-side screens in perfect synchronicity. However, his films are heavily stylized for a purpose.

I wish I still had some of my analytical writings from this course, but from what I remember, Zweig focused on the facade of Vienna during this era (The Grand Budapest Hotel doesn't take place in literal Vienna, but that is what the fictional place stands for). The turn-of-the-century, or "fin de siecle" had no true style of its own, in that it was an era known for its rehashing of old classics. As the rest of the world moved forward, Vienna held onto its cultural and artistic past, though the efforts were futile. In truth, the culture was more obsessed with keeping up illusions and appearances rather than real classic substance. This thematically plays into not only the artistic style of the film (keep up the appearances of flair, but really contain little real truth!), but the content. The whole story revolves around this classic painting "Boy with Apple" that really is just an old painting of a boy with an apple. People only place value in it because it is supposed to be good, classic art.

Wes Anderson films do not allow one to become easily absorbed into the story. It's a type of film that makes one hyper-aware of the fact they are watching a film, which is not always my style. However, this film remains engaging due to its fantastic cinematography, uniquely funny characters, and most importantly, the fact that there somehow manages to be a coherent and engaging plot amidst all of this chaos. (93/100)

Quote - There are countless, elegant quotes that support the themes I articulated above brilliantly, but I'm going to go for a funny one. I always die at "You must never be a candy ass."

What to watch for - ZERO!!!!! And Ralph Fiennes as Gustave.

If you liked this movie, I'd recommend Moonrise Kingdom!

Directed by Wes Anderson
Distributed by Fox Searchlight