Having been a huge fan of Moonrise Kingdom, I had high hopes for The Grand Budapest Hotel. When the first trailer was released, it looked fantastic. And it is. From the opening moments, The Grand Budapest Hotel is fantastic. The production design and direction is brilliant, the performances are excellent and there is a good layer of humor and emotion balanced nicely.
The Grand Budapest Hotel is told through a series of flashbacks about an Author (Jude Law) who goes to The Grand Budapest Hotel and ends up interviewing an older Zero Moustafa (F. Murray Abraham). In the 1930’s, he was a young lobby boy under M. Gustave (Ralph Fiennes) at the hotel. He then recounts to the Author how he came to own it through a series of events.
The Grand Budapest Hotel is fantastic. From the opening, the production design and direction is the first thing that stands out. These aspects are some of the many aspects that deserve Oscar attention and it’s unusual to be saying that about a movie released early in the year. The sets are excellent and the direction is unique, complementing the sets and adding to the atmosphere. The direction has 3 different aspect ratios for each time period. At first, it may seem odd, but it works.
The atmosphere is very fun as The Grand Budapest Hotel is hilarious. The writing and acting combined make one of the funniest movies I have seen this year. The script is very witty and consistently clever with great one-liners delivered by actors at the top of their comedic game. The tone as a result is very fast and adventurous. Wes Anderson once again shows how he is one of the best comedic directors currently working. There is also a layer of emotion near the end and with the relationship between Gustave and Zero.
What is unique as well is that the set contributes to that as well as the different aspect ratios. There are two set pieces in particular that benefit from this. The production design is excellent as well, with the designs of the miniatures partially used for the sets. The exterior shots look great as do the interior shots, using the three and two main ratios.
However, this movie would not have been as great without the masterful cast. Ralph Finnes is brilliant and absolutely hysterical as the owner of the hotel. He fits into Wes Anderson’s style perfectly. The supporting cast is excellent as well ranging from Tony Revolvi as Zero to Willem Dafoe as Jopling and Adrien Brody as Dimitri. It is one of the strongest overall casts of the year. The score is also great, as well as adding to the excellent style of Wes Anderson’s latest terrific work. Overall, The Grand Budapest Hotel is fantastic with excellent cast, production design, direction and style.
The Grand Budapest Hotel is rated R for language, some sexual content and violence. I give Grand Budapest Hotel a grand grade of an A.
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