As a recent fan of Wes Anderson, I was really looking forward to this film and I was not disappointed one bit and I think film may just be my second favorite Wes Anderson film after The Life Aquatic and just a notch above Moonrise Kingdom. Anderson takes everything that he has learnt from the past and applies it to this magical and moving shaggy dog story. The film opens with the author of the novel The Grand Budapest Hotel narrating and recounting his time at the hotel in 1968. The author is played Jude Law who meets Mr. Moustafa who dines with Jude Law's character and recounts his time as a young lobby boy who was taken under the wing of the concierge of the Budapest played by Ralph Fiennes.
At first when watching the story you may feel a bit confused and ask yourself what the hell is going on in the movie? And you would be right in doing so because I believe that initially this was done on purpose by Anderson to tell the quirky, comedic and amazing story of the friendship between a lowly lobby boy and a concierge. The story in the film really kicks off when we begin to see Gustave interact with Zero (Tony Revolori) who Gustav begins to mentor after seeing some hope, optimism and even a bit of himself in Zero. Zero is pretty loyal to Gustav which is what drives this story forward, I say this because after showing Gustav the newspaper article about one of his lovers kicking the can the hilarious adventures of Gustave and Zero are set in motion. Gustav's former lover bestows him with a priceless painting called Boy with Apple which is the center piece for a majority of the conflict as Adrien Brody's darkly comic character vows to not give Gustave anything of his mothers.
Despite the large ensemble of characters in this film, Ralph Fiennes owns everything he does in this film and is pitch perfect with the character of Gustave and infused a quirky sense of humor. I can't express how amazed I was by Fienne's performance, I never knew that Fiennes had a knack for comedy but now that I have seen it I just want to see more comedy from this brilliant actor. Gustav is by far the best and most memorable character in the movie which twisted morals which make him really entertaining to watch. By far the funniest quirk I found in Gustave's character was that he says he lives by a strict code of conduct and treats people with respect yet he sleeps with many rich & elderly women who stay at his hotel. Of all the minor characters you really have to give it to William Dafoe as Jopling a homicidal psycopath who wears brass knuckles, wears high heels and has vampire teeth. I found myself cracking up quite a bit in the stop-motion chase sequence in the movie which portrayed the absolutely weird and quirky nature of Wes Anderson's story telling in this movie.
One thing that really drove this movie home besides the amazing actors was the jaw dropping visuals which bring the sets to life as you would expect from a Wes Anderson film but what he does different with his visual style is that he makes the Grand Budapest feel like a living and breathing hotel. Almost every scene in this film was shown as if it were something out of an old painting similar to 'Boy with Apple' and the music of the film added to the this old timey setting that Anderson was trying to portray in this film. Even the grimmer moments in the film had you laughing, like with the fate of Jeff Goldblum's character of the poor cat, Wes Anderson literally uses everything in his arsenal to make this story come to life and have us laughing from the get go.
I won't spoil too much but by far the most exciting and crack up moment in the would have to go to the prison escape sequence which had me on the edge of my seat and cracking up at the outcome. You really have to applaud Anderson's who magnificently blends comedy, drama and mystery in this film, he delivers a pleasurable, quirky film which has an unexpectedly sharp edge all of which combine to give us one of Anderson's most heartfelt stories to date. I haven't seen too many other Wes Anderson films (Have only seen the Life Aquatic and Moonrise Kingdom ) but after seeing The Grand Budapest Hotel, I will definitely be checking out everything that Anderson has to offer.
I give this film 4 and a half Ralph Fiennes heads out of 5. This movie is close to being a masterpiece and would definitely urge you to see it in cinemas if you have the chance so you can witness the amazing art direction taken in this movie.
Review Written by Naveed
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