Review LXXIX - The Grand Budapest Hotel

Review LXXIX
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

Remember when I ranted about Wes Anderson in my review of Her? I shouldn't say that I dislike every single Wes Anderson film I've seen... I really liked Fantastic Mr. Fox, minus a few bits (and the fact that it shouldn't be associated with the book all that much). But that's where I drew the line. I saw part of Rushmore and turned it off when I couldn't get rid of the sweet taste in my mouth. I saw Moonrise Kingdom, which I reviewed a while back, and while I thought some parts were grand, overall, it left me feeling off - probably the sweet taste of Wes Anderson I wasn't familiar with yet. I watched The Royal Tenenbaums almost a year ago, and I can't remember much of it, but I remember the crazy characters that were everywhere and a depressing/happy ending. I didn't think much of it. Finally, I recently watched The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and, again, there was this chaos of a beginning which had some really great parts ("This is my boat.") and it was a nice throwback to seventies' ocean exploratory films/documentaries (Jacques Cousteau anyone? Those HATS.), and while the ending moved me, I didn't particularly like it. The beginning was just too... okay. You might be asking why I keep watching Wes Anderson films if I only liked one film out of the few I watched. Well, my boyfriend really loves him, and if I can get even a glimpse of why he claims The Royal Tenenbaums is such a great film, I'll make the effort. So when I decided to get together with some friends to watch a film, inviting my boyfriend along, I decided to give Anderson's latest flick, The Grand Budapest Hotel, a chance. He was paying, so even if I hated it, at least I wouldn't have wasted my money, right?

A woman visits the grave of The Author (Tom Wilkinson) of the novel The Grand Budapest Hotel. She begins to read a chapter of the novel, beginning with the Author explaining that he visited a hotel called The Grand Budapest Hotel nearing its end in the 60s. The Young Writer (Jude Law) meets Mr. Moustafa (F. Murray Abraham), one of the richest men in the world. Mr. Moustafa begins explaining the tale of when he was a young lobby boy (Tony Revolori) at the hotel, under the command of legendary concierge, Mr. Gustave (Ralph Fiennes anyone?).

Well, I guess I should get one thing out of the way: I liked it. In fact, I really liked The Grand Budapest Hotel. To say why I like it so is hard to explain, though. It has similar flavours as his other films, with this mix of adultness and youthfulness, but I find this film really balanced it out well. Normally, his films take a dip into adult themes, but it is laced with this cuteness that I find overwhelming. Sure, The Royal Tenenbaums had a suicide attempt and all, but I don't know, the overall film is just too cute for my liking. I found The Grand Budapest Hotel really had control over these two aspects. Of course, maybe the story itself was just more interesting to me, but I usually like tales of dysfunctional people. I liked The Rum Diary and Withnail and I is one of my favourite films (thank you, Bruce Robinson!). The Grand Budapest Hotel deals with a cocky man, who we only get to know based on the events of Zero Moustafa. I find this idea works so well. Instead of being given snapshots of Mr. Gustave as a child and all, we're left to imagine how he grew up. We know he was once a great lobby boy, but that is it. Yet we grow with him so much throughout the film. We grow with all the characters. I can't put my finger on what is so different, besides the plot, because it still has Wes Anderson elements. But I just felt like Wes Anderson had a lot of control in this film. Again, it walked on the line between overly cute and overly adult, and never dared tip over.

The shots were purely Wes Anderson, but I can't say I ever had a problem with that. Still, you know what to expect - colour, colour, and more colour. The beginning, with the miniature of the hotel itself was so Wes Anderson, but I have no complaints. The random of various concierges was wonderful. The suits and style of everything was very well set-up - the cinematographers and crew must have thought hard about everything. And the shots, oh, the shots. I loved how Wes Anderson would incorporate people into the frame without having them there physically. I'll give an example to show what I mean. At one point, Deputy Kovacs (Jeff Goldblum) gets onto... a bus, I believe it is. He pulls down the frame and we get a glimpse of one of the antagonists reflected on the mirror. Guys, that was brilliant. What a way to incorporate a character into a shot without having him physically standing in front of the camera. Sexy.

I'll stop here since I need to get going, but yes, the film is Wes Anderson, but it's him at his best. Even me, who really doesn't generally like Wes Anderson, would recommend this film. It's a piece of art that deserves to be watched. Maybe it might be overly sweet to some, but I'd say give it a shot. This film shows that Hollywood is still out there to try and tell a story, not just through words, but through the beauty of cinema.