The Grand Budapest Hotel Enthralls ………
As Spring is on the cusp dear cinephiles, I would like to welcome guests from around the globe into the lobby of MR. WES ANDERSON'S WORLD. Distinguished representatives from Austria,
Germany, France, Russia, The United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Greece, Romania, Czech Republic, Hungary, Spain, Italy, Poland, Belgium, Georgia, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Serbia, Moldavia, Kazakhstan, Denmark, Portugal, Iceland, India, Mozambique, and last but not least ZUBROWKA.
The doors of perception have been regally opened by an auteur whom creates hallways that lead to a treasure trove of visual decadence. ZUBROWKA created by Anderson is a state a mind. A location that has associations with Austro-Hungarian history yet is a world all of it's own. ZUBROWKA is the location of The Grand Budapest Hotel. A snow globe of perfume scented wall paper, Kubrickian red elevators, and pink Mendl pastry boxes. The look of the film is a pleasure cake for the viewer. The Life Aquatic, The Royal Tenenbaums, and most recently Moonrise Kingdom all have been visually amazing, yet The Grand Budapest Hotel takes it to a whole another level of aristocratic European heights. The 1968 orange colors of the common property hotel are communistic. Watching the hotel transform from the Communist Era to it's 1930's hey day is stunning.
The acting in this film is best of any of director Wes Anderson's yet. Ralph Fiennes takes the helm of the movie playing a concierge named Gustave H. His performance is quite exceptional. Fiennes portrayal of Gustave is a mix of Anthony Hopkins in Remains of the Day and the Marx Brothers. His acting is Shakespearean, Method, and Screwball all interwoven. Tony Revolori portrays Zero. Tony is the lobby boy for Fiennes. The father son dynamic between these two lonely men is amazing. Both don't have any family. Revolori has never acted before and is just a teen. He goes toe to toe with Fiennes and compliments him perfectly. The two work in a similar way as Leonardo Dicaprio and Jonah Hill in The Wolf of Wall Street. In both films it is important to note that the extreme characters of Jordan Belfort and Gustave H can't be built without key supporting roles. The rest of the acting in the film is amazing the A-list actors that appeared in this film for such short sequences is quite unusual. Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Owen Wilson, Lea Seydoux, Jason Schwartzman, Jude Law, Saoirise Ronan, Edward Norton and if I didn't stop it would go on till every one seated in the Vienna Opera House is named.
My personal favorite characters were Jeff Goldblum as Deputy Kovacs, Harvey Keitel as Ludwig, and Willem Dafoe as Jopling.
Jeff Goldblum shines as a lawyer called Deputy Kovacs. The scene of Kovacs reading the will in the Bavarian room with mounted heads and relatives is priceless.
Harvey Keitel portrays a prisoner named Ludwig and his monologue to Gustave about the situation and necessary steps for escape is hysterical. Keitel's shaved head and tattoos are fantastic. The prison break sequence is one of the best choreographed scenes since the long takes of entering the club in Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights and going through the kitchen to get to the table at the restaurant in Scorsese's Goodfellas.
Willem Dafoe knows how to play the strange and unusual like no other. From Bobby Peru in Lynch's Wild at Heart, He in Von Trier's Antichrist, Jesus in Scrosese's The Last Temptation of Christ, Sgt. Elias in Stone's Platoon, man is he a chameleon. Add Jopling in The Grand Budapest Hotel to this list. We first meet him at the announcement of the will. He is is clenching his fists that are covered with skull rings. He wears black leather spats and has a long black leather trench coat. Inside the coat is a hand made slot for his flask and pistol. The perfect villain who rides a motorcycle and goes alpine skiing.
At the end of The Grand Budapest Hotel the viewer will feel like they have run a race through history and become connected to the personal lives off all those involved. Wes Anderson has been condemned by many critics in the past for creating stellar visuals and poor story. Exquisite wall paper over plot. I find this criticism to be unjust. I do however see how so many agree that this film is an exception for them. The natural rhythm and nature of a hotel is transient. So the characters even if they are short parts and not entirely connected by dialogue or have huge character development it works because they are all part of the ZUBROWKA world. A world in which a Hotel is the centerpiece and as everyone knows it is hard to feel at home in a hotel. Yet Fiennes, Revolori, and Ronan become a beautiful family in one.
