“The Grand Budapest Hotel” is Wes Anderson’s eighth feature length film, and features Anderson’s most impressive cast yet to play the fun characters in this date quirky story.
Since 1996, Anderson has been providing moviegoers with unique and dramatic comedies that are hilarious, emotional and beautiful to look at.
Anderson has become one of the great contemporary auteurs thanks to his unique visual style, dry humor, and impressive ensembles that tend to include the likes of Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Jason Schwarztman, and many, many more.
The film bounces between three time periods, between which the viewer can distinguish by their own varying aspect ratios, or the proportion of width to height of the image or screen. The majority of the film’s narrative takes place in 1932 and is presented in an aspect ratio rarely used in contemporary film. The differing ratios are a real pleasure to watch.
The “Grand Budapest Hotel’s” main narrative concerns a young Zero Moustafa (Tony Revolori in a career-making role) who becomes a lobby boy at the Grand Budapest Hotel. Gustave (Ralph Fiennes), the hotel’s concierge, is a cheerful man with a taste for elderly women. He immediately takes a liking to Zero and the two strike up a friendship.
After the passing of one of Gustave’s suitors (Tilda Swinton), her belongings are given out at the reading of her will. It is here where Gustave’s claim to a famous painting, Boy With Apple, is declared.
However, the deceased woman’s son (a hilarious Adrien Brody) and his right hand man (a devilish Willem Dafoe) do not approve of Gustave receiving the painting. Gustave is mysteriously found guilty of murder the next day. Zero must then help prove Gustave innocent and break him out of jail in the process.
That was just the small gist of the story, as trying to describe the plot and every single character of the film is a real chore.
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” is full of delightful and unique characters, most notably Fiennes’ Gustave, who is a fantastic lead role.
After seeing Fiennes be so villainous in films such as the Harry Potter series, “Clash of the Titans” and “Schindler’s List”, it’s a real treat to see him play an eccentric and delightful character here.
Anderson continues to tell interesting stories and presents the viewer with interesting characters in his films.
Despite this, “The Grand Budapest Hotel” was my least favorite of his films because the film was so plot driven and not very character driven, as are his previous films.
While this film is filled with characters, I believe that they are all in service of the plot and don’t get enough time to breathe as characters.
Instead, a few characters are allowed to be fleshed out while others are reduced to small roles or cameos, such as Owen Wilson’s, Bill Murray’s and Jason Schwarztman’s characters.
Anderson is clearly having fun showcasing over-the-top characters and designing sets and productions that no one else in Hollywood is even attempting to make. Because of these efforts, ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ is still a fantastic and solid film from simply a story and art direction stand point.
Even though “The Grand Budapest Hotel” is my least favorite Anderson work, there is no such thing as a bad Anderson film. Like the rest of his films, Anderson’s most recent outing is filled with whimsy, quirkiness, and dry humor.
I highly recommend giving his latest a shot whether you are new to his filmography or a seasoned Anderson-devotee.