Personally, I'm a big fan of having a bit of strange in my cinematic diet. If a director is capable of affecting some ludicrous dialogue with some fantastically surreal visuals, you can consider my ticket purchased. That's some of what we have here in The Grand Budapest Hotel. This is a film that is delightfully witty, completely visually distinct, amazingly heartfelt, and uniquely memorable.
The story is told through a series of flashbacks as
perceived by current owner of the Grand Budapest, Zero, as he is interviewed by
an author interested in his life story.
In this story, Zero is a young lobby boy under the tutelage of Mr.
Gustave, a kind relic of times gone by whose decorum only thinly veils a vain,
perverse, arrogant, but ultimately immensely lovable man. The interplay between these two characters is
the heart of the tale, and watching them grow close through an odd combination
of fiendishly silly hi-jinks and constantly interrupted poetry is a delight to
see. The film's plot revolves around the
murder of one of Gustave's patrons, as well as the inheritance of a prized
piece of art. As benign as this story
sounds, it's anything but, featuring a cast of immediately memorable characters
that both thicken the plot and fall victim to it. It's a wonderfully unique tale in its quirky
execution, if not in its originality.
And that execution is simply beautiful. Scenes are framed with a breathtaking amount
of precision. The sets are vibrant and
bizarre, yet still reminiscent of Europe at the dawn of the second World War. The character designs are archetypal so as
to be instantly recognizable, yet completely unique due to their strange
mannerisms and costumes. The actors'
performances of those characters is always fresh and often quotable. The whole production seems to fall somewhere
between a stage performance and an adult cartoon, and I wouldn't have it any
other way. The cinematography is
stellar, the acting is superb, the dialogue is witty and immensely funny, and
there's even an undercurrent of melancholy as a fascist Not-zi army threatens
the existence of the Grand Budapest Hotel.
Even though the film is a comedy at heart, and a damn good one at that,
it still manages to pluck at some heartstrings along the way, and quite
effectively at that.
So do I recommend The
Grand Budapest Hotel? I was laughing
throughout the whole thing. I was in awe
at the cinematographic tricks director Wes Anderson used to frame his
shots. I geeked out at the fact that the
freakin' aspect ratio changed when the story cut from interview to
flashback. I found it difficult to wipe
the giddy smile from my face even after leaving the theater. This is a film where a smart directorial
vision gives us an incredibly bizarre and funny film that both doesn't take
itself seriously and delivers its lack of seriousness with a professional and
artistic polish. Do I recommend this
film? I can't recommend it enough, dear
readers. Not nearly enough.
So what are you waiting for?
Get to your local theater and see it before it leaves the big
screen. Then leave a comment below and
share your favorite moment.
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