The Grand Budapest Hotel
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham, Mathieu Amalric, Jude Law
100 mins; 12; KRS
Undoubtedly one of the most inventive directors working today, Wes Anderson creates worlds rather than makes movies. Worlds that are a fictional and heightened version of people, places and mores we can recognise yet remain completely captivating, be they the eccentric New York family The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), the oceanic homage to Jacques Cousteau The Life Aquatic of Steve Zissou (2004), or the blossoming romance between two young children on an island community in the 1960s in Moonrise Kingdom (2012).
Wes Anderson creates worlds rather than makes movies
And so has he done with The Grand Budapest Hotel. In his latest offering, Anderson has created the Republic of Zubrowka, located somewhere in Eastern Europe. More specifically, the story is set in a little mountainous spa town, and the hotel that is its centrepiece, the Grand Hotel Budapest of the title.
An elderly author (Tom Wilkinson) recalls his younger self (Jude Law), when he learns the story of the legendary Gustave H (Ralph Fiennes), concierge of the genteel Grand Budapest Hotel in the 1930s, and the lobby boy Zero Moustafa (Tony Revolori).
As the story unfolds, we learn that the death of a favourite hotel guest leads this incongruous duo on a remarkable caper that gets them involved in the theft of a priceless Renaissance painting.
The theft throws them in the middle of a dramatic family feud, gets one of them thrown into prison and helps love blossom for the other.
There is much to savour in this latest confection from this unique director. The location, the setting, the story and the characters live in another of his fantastical worlds captured so fastidiously by the director, production designer Adam Stockhausen and costume designer Milena Canonero.
It is a version of early 20th century Eastern Europe brought to life with some ornate visual designs and painted with a palette of bright colours. These all create a world that is best described as an old-fashioned, animated, film performed by humans.
It is certainly a magical and childlike way of storytelling, even if the content is a little more adult. The pace is relentless, yet so tight is Anderson’s script that the story flows uninterrupted, the comic and more dramatic (and some hyper-violent) moments never sitting uncomfortably together.
Yet, this is not merely a beautifully rendered comic caper. Underneath its colourful veneer lies a story of friendship and honour, and the unparalleled importance of these virtues in these innocent times. Europe recovers from one Great War, while the stage is set for another, with the darkness of war and impending tragedy constantly looming over proceedings.
The film boasts some sublime performances from the exceptional cast led by Fiennes and Revolori. Fiennes has created an astonishing character in Gustave, a man who is charming, fastidious and eloquent; maybe a little vain, and who possesses an endearingly idiosyncratic view of life.
He forges special relationships with all his guests – and very special ones with the ladies of all ages. He deals with everything the world throws at him with aplomb and is very rarely unfazed. It is a rare delight to see Ralph Fiennes in such a delightfully quirky role, tackling it with a lightness of touch and deftness of delivery – a comic performance that we rarely get to see from this award-winning actor.
Newcomer Tony Revolori is a revelation as the naïve, winsome Zero, who Gustave takes under his wing and who becomes his right-hand-man and ultimately best friend. The young actor nails the wide-eyed charm and innocence necessary for the character, making him the unlikely hero of the piece.
Fiennes and Revolori head an eclectic international cast including the likes of Murray Abraham, Mathieu Amalric, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Edward Norton, Saoirse Ronan, Lea Seydoux, Tilda Swinton, and Anderson regulars Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, and Owen Wilson, some of whom pop up for mere seconds, but all blending seamlessly into Anderson’s wonderfully eccentric little world.