Wes Anderson is one of the most recognizable directors of our time due to his unique filmmaking style and his 2014 action/adventure comedy “The Grand Budapest Hotel” utilizes the Anderson’s unique style to perfection.
The plot of the film follows an older man (F. Murray Abraham) telling the story of the hotel to a young writer (Jude Law), which entails concierge M. Gustave (Ralph Fiennes) and lobby boy Zero (Tony Revolori) trying to retain an artwork titled “Boy with Apple” inherited from the recently deceased Madame D. (Tilda Swinton) as her family led by Dmitri (Adrien Brody) seek to regain possession of the artwork.
At the same time, M. Gustave is being hunted by the law led by Henckels (Edward Norton) who believes he killed Madame D.
If the plot sounds like it’s a lot, that’s because it is. However, one of the best things about Anderson is that he manages to balance everything out in his films well.
As the runtime progresses and the audience gets further into the movie, things change rapidly allowing for the story to remain engaging and entertaining for the entire runtime.
It also helps that the film is filled with a stacked cast including—in addition to the previously mentioned actors—Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Murray, Saoirse Ronan, Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson and more.
All of the actors have a unique flair to their roles that makes their characters’ personalities stand out both individually and when paired with another character.
The best example of this is with the film’s lead characters of M. Gustave and Zero as they have amazing chemistry with each other as a counselor/guardian and pupil duo.
Brody’s portrayal of Dmitri is another stellar highlight as he feels cold, calculating and menacing all at once with every appearance.
Adding onto the unique flair and one of the best parts of Anderson films is its style. Style can include many different things depending on the director, but for Anderson, it consists of dialogue, set design and cinematography.
Firstly, the dialogue stands out so starkly because it doesn’t sound like a conversation you’d have in person or something you’d see in a normal movie.
Instead, the dialogue reads and sounds like a novel, which provides immense description, clever wordplay and insight into the characters you wouldn’t get otherwise.
This is something all of Anderson’s films do well, but it works especially well here due to the film being based on the writings of Stefan Zweig, an Austrian author whose books “Beware of Pity” and “The Post Office Girl” inspired the film.
Secondly, the set design favors as many practical effects as possible.
Yes, soundstages are used, but the backgrounds for buildings and interiors almost look as if they were painted. Some of these backgrounds in fact were painted such as the distant landscape backgrounds.
Utilizing the practical effects over digital ones allows the audience to feel more connected with what’s happening on screen and gives the film a theatrical type of experience akin to that you would find on Broadway.
Lastly, the cinematography ties the previous two points together with the unique lighting and camera movements, allowing the scenes to play out in an artistic way.
For example, one scene features M. Gustave running away from Henckels and his fellow officers in the hotel lobby and up the stairs to the left of the screen in the background followed by the authorities.
During this scene, the camera stays fixed which draws your attention to the grand scale of the hotel and provides perspective on the hotel’s set design.
This scene along with countless others in the film also draw your attention to the vibrant colors of the Anderson style.
The colors aren’t dull and are vibrant without being blinding, which gives them this film grain and oil pastel look.
By now my reviews would’ve included some sort of negative about the film as apparently I’ve never liked a movie, but I have nothing to dislike about this movie.
Everything is expertly crafted by Anderson making it a near perfect movie as the only “negative” I find is that I didn’t walk away feeling like my life was changed.
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” lives up to its titular description of grand featuring stellar acting, writing, set design and cinematography that make the film one of the best I’ve watched in a long time.
Whether you’re looking for a fun movie to watch or an award-winning film, which this film has done with four 2015 Oscar wins, “The Grand Budapest Hotel” has something for everyone to enjoy.
Rating: 4.5/5
Luke Brewer can be reached at 581-2812 or at lsbrewer@eiu.edu.
