The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
For many, The Grand Budapest Hotel served as their introduction to the strange and brilliant world of Wes Anderson films. Continuing from his previous film Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel is one of the most atheistically unique and precise films in recent memory but unlike Moonrise Kingdom, it also is able to craft a strong story with solid emotion and characters.
Easily the most standout aspect of The Grand Budapest Hotel are the visuals throughout the film. Not only does the film use incredibly vibrant colors and grand sets creating breathtaking visuals which are only enhanced by the majority of the film using a 1.37:1 aspect ratio. There is no other film which creates a world like the one presented in The Grand Budapest Hotel. Any other time a film took such a dynamic visual style like in Blade Runner 2049, it has been in a sci-fi based world that allows these crazy visuals concepts to easily make sense. Instead in The Grand Budapest Hotel, Wes Anderson has to fit these incredibly dynamic colors and general vibrance into the real world finding the artistic value of the everyday world. Not only does Wes Anderson use colors to create dynamic visuals but also he isn't afraid to have scenes that break away from reality using clear visual effects to make scenes such as a tense ski race stand out not as pieces of reality but rather part of the fairy tale which is the film.
The comedy is the other part of the film that stands out the most. Where the dialogue from the screenplay written by Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness is impressive it is the performances that bring it to life. There is no way the film would have worked to the level it did without the lead performance from Ralph Fiennes who transforms into the role of Monsieur Gustave. Consistently Fiennes brings life to his performance with an energy and charisma which helps it stand out as one of the best comedic performances in recent memory. He is so talented when delivering his various one-liners selling them with a mixture of sarcasm and honesty which comes off as comedically captivating. He is the life and soul of the film but is also far from the only star from the movie. For much of the film, Tony Revolori is right next to Fiennes giving a much different but equally enjoyable performance as the Lobby Boy named Zero. Where Fiennes is on cloud 9 with his charismatic over the top performance, Revolori is grounded giving a much quieter performance that speaks volumes when put next to the performance Fiennes is giving. Both performances, despite being fundamentally different, have amazing chemistry with each other and play off of each other in the best of ways. This is a dynamic that easily could have been messed up if there was a single weak link the triangle between the two actors and the screenplay but all 3 are delivering at such a high level that it really creates a memorable dynamic. The side characters, where lacking a ton of depth, also play nicely into the fairy tale aspect of the film. From J. G. Jopling (Willem Dafoe), a physical brute out for blood to Kovacs (Jeff Goldblum), a slimy lawyer. The film never gives these characters a ton to chew on emotionally but rather has built memorable characters and therefore performances out of their insanely fun gimmicks. The best part is that unlike with a film such as Moonrise Kingdom, the film is well aware of how it is using these characters and doesn't attempt to half-ass pieces of depth like that film.
Where the comedy is top tier, The Grand Budapest Hotel does have a deeper level to its emotions which helps elevate it to an even higher level. Specifically coming from the character of Zero as he tells his story from later in his life, the film carries a weight of nostalgia for it. It is a film telling the story of characters on the verge of multiple major changes from politics to society and there is a sense of sadness as the past is in seemingly an instant washed away. Zero is a character who wants to go back to a simpler life, a time long gone where not only did The Grand Budapest stand as a fantasy world but one where he didn't have the burdens of life holding him down. Life naturally brings pain and a weight which so elegantly and nonchalantly finds its way to the core of The Grand Budapest Hotel. Even though the hotel is not real and the audience doesn't have experience with it outside of the film, this weight is absolutely felt.
The Grand Budapest Hotel is in many ways peak Wes Anderson. Even though the characters and explorations within The Royal Tenenbaums barely edges the film out of being Wes Anderson's best film, The Grand Budapest Hotel is going to be the film that defines the filmmaker's career. Not only does it carry the quirky screenplay and ensemble cast which has been a constant through Wes Anderson's career but it carries the best visual style of nearly any film ever made. There is no other film which looks like The Grand Budapest Hotel and these elements come together to create a film unlike any other which undoubtedly is one of the best films of the entire decade
Where the comedy is top tier, The Grand Budapest Hotel does have a deeper level to its emotions which helps elevate it to an even higher level. Specifically coming from the character of Zero as he tells his story from later in his life, the film carries a weight of nostalgia for it. It is a film telling the story of characters on the verge of multiple major changes from politics to society and there is a sense of sadness as the past is in seemingly an instant washed away. Zero is a character who wants to go back to a simpler life, a time long gone where not only did The Grand Budapest stand as a fantasy world but one where he didn't have the burdens of life holding him down. Life naturally brings pain and a weight which so elegantly and nonchalantly finds its way to the core of The Grand Budapest Hotel. Even though the hotel is not real and the audience doesn't have experience with it outside of the film, this weight is absolutely felt.
The Grand Budapest Hotel is in many ways peak Wes Anderson. Even though the characters and explorations within The Royal Tenenbaums barely edges the film out of being Wes Anderson's best film, The Grand Budapest Hotel is going to be the film that defines the filmmaker's career. Not only does it carry the quirky screenplay and ensemble cast which has been a constant through Wes Anderson's career but it carries the best visual style of nearly any film ever made. There is no other film which looks like The Grand Budapest Hotel and these elements come together to create a film unlike any other which undoubtedly is one of the best films of the entire decade