Inspired by the writings of Stefan Zweig
Story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness
Screenplay Written by Wes Anderson
Directed by Wes Anderson
**** (four stars)
“That’s the kind of movie that I like to make, where there is an invented reality and the audience is going to go someplace where hopefully they’ve never been before. The details, that’s what the world is made of."
-Wes Anderson
"The Grand Budapest Hotel," the eight feature film from Writer/Director Wes Anderson is a stupendous wonderland, magically rendered and blissfully executed. For all of the imagined worlds that Anderson has already devised for us in the past, from the prep schools of "Rushmore" (1998) to the underwater spectacles of "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou" (2004) and to even the graceful stop motion of "Fantastic Mr. Fox" (2009), "The Grand Budapest Hotel" is not only Anderson's most visually resplendent film to date, it is also a film that is so unabashedly unfiltered and presented without regard for anything any potential detractors might have to say about it, thus making it a work of pure freedom and unrepentant liberation.
For my tastes and sensibilities, "The Grand Budapest Hotel" is not only Wes Anderson best film in many years, I am strongly feeling it to be my favorite film of his since the likes of "The Royal Tenenbaums" (2001) and the melancholic Middle Eastern dream world of "The Darjeeling Limited" (2007). Even further, I also feel that it has already earned a spot on my listings of my favorite films of 2014! "The Grand Budapest Hotel" represents a major statement from a filmmaking artist who, still quite young and has already amassed a large, treasured body of work, has created a film that feels as if he is just getting started. BRAVO!!!!!
I have to say that it would be more than a little difficult to really explain to you the basic plot line of "The Grand Budapest Hotel" as the film is decidedly much more labyrinthine than the film's trailers may make it appear to be. This is not a criticism by any means. Just more of a thrilled observation as we are indeed ensconced in a "high concept" era where nearly every film can be reduced to a one sentence description. By contrast, Wes Anderson has heroically countered that level of instant gratification by immersing us in a luxurious yarn that spans four time periods, but mostly takes place in the mythical European Republic of Zubrowka circa 1932, with the final glory days of the titular hotel as the central point.
Ralph Finnes brilliantly stars as Gustave H., the Budapest Hotel's devoted and masterful concierge, a fastidious yet roguish gentleman with a penchant for romancing wealthy octogenarians, in the case of this film's story, the 84-year-old Madame D. (a completely unrecognizable Tilda Swinton). When Madam D. unexpectedly dies under mysterious circumstances, Gustave H. is thrust into a murder mystery that involves a missing will, a stolen painting entitled "Boy With Apple," daring prison escapes, ferocious villains (played with gleeful terror by Adrian Brody and Willem Dafoe), youthful romance, delectable baked goods, rapid snowy chases through the mountains and at the core, the developing friendship between Gustave H. and the young immigrant and hotel Lobby Boy in training, Zero Moustafa (wonderfully played by Tony Revolori).
Long have I lamented the increasing lack of vision, imagination and creativity on display in 21st century cinema and how gloriously happy I was that by the first frames of "The Grand Budapest Hotel," Wes Anderson nearly single-handedly brings all that is sorely lacking back to the silver screen in the most lavish display he has accomplished yet. This is a frisky film that hurtles by on seemingly the sheer velocity of how quickly the ideas happened to arrive in Anderson's brains. But rest assured dear readers, this film is not some collection of random daydreams barely stitched together. Really, this is a Wes Anderson movie where all of the details are meticulously conceived and painstakingly designed to work together to formulate a seamless package, making the entire invented universe full, rich, complete and without any cracks or blemishes whatsoever.
As we live in an era of groundbreaking special effects that aren't special, where the CGI technology that can create anything you can possibly imagine but only seems to manage explosions and all manner of crashes, "The Grand Budapest Hotel" goes a profoundly long way in showing the artistry and magic of actual set, production and costume design. While there are certainly some digital special effects to be seen, the film truly feels less like the work of computers for other computers and decidedly more like we are witnessing the work of immensely creative individuals working at the top of their respective crafts, utilizing human hands to fulfill the singular artistic dreams of the primary filmmaker at the helm.
I certainly hope that the short memory span of the Academy Awards community does not come into play in regards to this particular film as it has been released so early in 2014. But believe me, this is a film that is a constant and delightful sight to behold, so much so, that I am echoing some other critics who have mentioned that audience members may wish to have remote controls to stop the film to just have the opportunity to study every detail that has been so lovingly placed upon the screen. One year from now, if Cinematographer Robert Yeoman, Production Designer Adam Stockhausen, Costume Designer Milena Canonero and Set Designer Anna Pinnock are not nominated and celebrated for their tremendous work on this film, copious and unforgivable cinematic crimes have been committed for their work on this film is astounding.
And yet, "The Grand Budapest Hotel" is not solely a visual masterpiece, it is a conceptual one as well as Wes Anderson's screenplay (his first solo screenplay at that) magically works in lockstep with the visuals on display and somehow makes room to feature seemingly everyone who has ever taken part in a Wes Anderson film in surprising, fully convincing and most accommodating fashions. Ralph Finnes superbly ingratiates himself within Wes Anderson's film universe by bringing to life a character that is not out of step with several of Anderson's other industrious yet rascally scoundrel leading men in films past (I am chuckling with the thought of Gustave somehow being involved in a high stakes card game with Royal Tenenbaum, Steve Zissou and Mr. Fox--oh, the stories they would tell each other). Yet, Finnes also makes Gustave exist so vividly on his own terms. Finnes, usually so brooding and tortured in the roles he chooses to take, appears to be just as liberated as Anderson with this role that is by turns dashing, persnickety, duplicitous, shameless and virtuous. He is absolutely wonderful!
Additionally, Wes Anderson's screenplay is a masterpiece of construction, plotting and most especially, language, a quality that makes the film a sheer delight to listen to, as hearing dialogue so freshly inventive has become so increasingly rare. Furthermore, I actually hope that the screenplay is published in a book format as I am certain that it would be just as delightful to read, thus provoking the thoughts that Wes Anderson could also become a fine novelist should he ever choose to follow that path.
But again, there is that ever present criticism of Wes Anderson's films that they are all artifice with no substance whatsoever, a criticism I have vehemently disagreed with time and again. As I have always expressed concerning his films, Wes Anderson somehow possesses the gift to create these artificial landscapes and environments but somehow houses them in emotions that are so deeply true. In the case of "The Grand Budapest Hotel," the ache and melancholy lurking at the seams of the story becomes more palpable as the film continues onwards. The film takes place during a period when the world is on the brink of war and Anderson does pepper his film with issues of racism and even some surprising bits of surrealistic yet graphic violence.
Most of all, "The Grand Budapest Hotel" contains a profound sense of mournfulness as it is decidedly a highly romantic film, the kind of which is designed to leave you heartbroken. The film is a romance for a era and time of Old Europe, even a dreamworld Old Europe like the one depicted here. The film is also a romance of friendships long gone but deeply cherished and eternally remembered as well as paying homage to the early romances that shape us and at times, break us. It is a film that possesses a love affair with art, travel, pursuits, mysteries and escapes, a quality which then makes the entire film a romantic ideal for the art of storytelling and the storytellers who weave the dreams for listeners to find themselves lost inside of and transformed by. If that is not substantive enough for you, then I don't know what else could be. But for me, it makes "The Grand Budapest Hotel" the very type of film I am already itching to see again, as well as add it into my personal collection in the future!
Wes Anderson's "The Grand Budapest Hotel" is a sumptuous feast and succulent fantasia. It is a film that demonstrates vibrantly that Wes Anderson is a filmmaker who has chosen to completely serve his artistic muse and not play it safe. That he is working at the fullest command of his creative powers by making a film in a way that could not be made by another filmmaker than himself. That is filmmaking artistry to me and "The Grand Budapest Hotel" is a voluminously entertaining piece of cinematic art.
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