"The Grand Budapest Hotel": movie reviews, actors, summary

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The four-Oscar-winning "Grand Budapest Hotel" was shot by one of today's best visionaries, Wes Anderson. The tape was included in the program of the Berlin Film Festival, the premiere took place in early February 2014. The project was awarded the Grand Prix of the jury. The vast majority of filmmakers and members of the press included the picture in the top ten films. The "Grand Budapest Hotel" has won a number of awards, with an IMDb rating of 8.10.

Author's style

Wes Anderson's track record consists of only nine feature films, but the fact that this director has his own unique style is beyond doubt. The director's shooting style is obvious and recognizable, the visionary turns his every project into an original one.like a puppet show. As critics emphasize in reviews of the film "The Grand Budapest Hotel", this time Anderson did not change his creative passions. Despite the formed style of his own, Wes is no stranger to experiments: he travels in his work through eras and geographical objects, tried his hand at animation.

This time he's practicing style. And the director of the film "The Grand Budapest Hotel" preferred a difficult style, the picture resembles a mixture of movie fairy tales from the socialist countries of Eastern Europe and French comedies. In the movie, elements of "The Unlucky", "Daddy" are barely perceptible, there is the spirit of "White and Rose" and "Three Nuts for Cinderella". The director mixes the colors of the past and produces an unprecedentedly fresh palette. It is no coincidence that films similar to The Grand Budapest Hotel include Amelie, Four Rooms, Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Tenenbaums.

The illusion of unsurpassed grace

Reviewers in reviews of the film "The Grand Budapest Hotel" compare the tape with an adventurous story. The director himself admits that he was inspired by the short stories and memoirs of Stefan Zweig, as well as The Banality of Evil by Hannah Arendt. The plot of the film is similar to a nesting doll. The main events take place in the 30s at the Grand Budapest Hotel, after their direct participant, the aged Zero, tells about his past adventures to a middle-aged man. He remembers the story and, becoming a writer, turns it into a novel, which innowadays, a girl is reading, located in the cemetery near the bust of the writer.

Storyline

In Europe, post-World War I and heading into World War II, the thriving Grand Budapest Hotel is located in the Eastern European nation of Zubrovka. In the center of the story is the concierge Gustav (R. Fiennes), who loves to hit on other people's wives. He hires a boy with the color of skin "coffee with milk" Zero Mustafa (T. Revolori) as a corridor lobby-boy, escorts the most profitable passion Countess Desgoffe und Taxis (T. Swinton) on her last journey. Her relatives are ready to cut each other's throats for the inheritance, among which is the painting "Boy with an Apple" - a Renaissance masterpiece by Johann Van Hoyt Jr.

But the work of art goes to Gustav, which causes sincere displeasure of the cocky Dmitry (E. Brody) and his henchman Jopling (W. Defoe). Relatives, enlisting the support of the police, led by Captain Albert Henkels (E. Norton), begin a real hunt for the concierge.

The critics in the reviews of the film "The Grand Budapest Hotel" (2014) note that the director managed to drive the adventure plot into an elegant frame of recognizable author's style, and inside this canvas a whole gallery of bright characters blossoms.

Acting Ensemble

As the reviews of the film "The Grand Budapest Hotel" say, it surprised many. It features an exemplary constellation of first-class actors, including the director's favorites: B. Murray, D. Schwartzman, O. Wilson, who play episodic or secondary roles. The leading roles are played by actors with whom the director has not previously collaborated - R. Fiennes, W. Defoe, D. Goldblum, H. Keitel and others.

Almost every character in the tape is the brightest character, each image is concisely and clearly built. Gustav performed by Ralph Fiennes is a real masterpiece. Boy Zero, embodied on the screen by Tony Revolori, is simply wonderful. Jeff Goldblum has not appeared on the screen for a long time, he has not lost his skill, his hero is a lawyer. The role as a whole is episodic, but memorable.

Brody and Defoe are good as villains. And Tilda Swinton is unrecognizable as an 84-year-old old woman. The character's makeup is absolutely incredible.

Production Features

After seeing the picture, many viewers wondered where the film "The Grand Budapest Hotel" was filmed. The scenery for the fictional town of Lutz was the architectural delights of Görlitz (Germany), which, due to its perfectly preserved architecture, is often used by filmmakers. Some scenes were filmed in the castles of the federal state of Saxony and in its capital, Dresden. The interior of the hotel was filmed in the pavilions of the film studio and in the cavedium of the Görlitzer Warenhaus department store. The model used to film the outside of the building was created by decorator A. Stockhausen, who drew inspiration from old photographs of the Bristol Palace Hotel in Karlovy Vary and the Gellert Hotel in Budapest.

Criticism

Reviews of the film "The Grand Budapest Hotel" are extremely laudatory, the picture was awarded the highest ratings of authoritative filmmakers. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, out of 225 reviews, 92% are positive, so the tape's rating is 8.4 points out of 10. Critics call the project its own world with bright colors, unusual characters and amazing costumes. At the same time, they emphasize that, despite the tragedy of the plot, Anderson's brainchild awakens a thirst for travel.

Film experts praise the director for touching serious issues subtly. A yearning for humanity, the individuality of each person runs like a red thread through the whole narrative. At the same time, in the cinema there is a place for exciting adventures, subtle irony, dreams, true friendship and weightless nostalgia for the past. Time magazine gave the project an honorable first place in its top 10 films of 2014.

Domestic experts noted the saturation of each frame with details and characters, the accuracy of camera movements, and the professionalism of the cameraman.

Flaws

The only thing the director was slightly scolded by critics for was the very superficial treatment of the story. However, Anderson does not scoff at the events of the past, he makes funny sketches, presenting a conditional European power as a kind of mountain resort in which guests have fun with theft, chases and love. The look is superficial, but quite understandable. In the end, the memorykeeps only the good, getting rid of bad memories over time.

Among the audience reviews, at times there are frankly bewildered remarks, the authors of which are outraged by what they see, asking what kind of comedy this is, where are the Nazis, the military police, the prison, etc. Of course, if you go to the "Grand Budapest Hotel" "As a traditional youth comedy, you will definitely get the most severe disappointment, this cannot be changed. You just have to go to an Anderson film like an Anderson film. Then everything will be all right.