The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

[Edgy MD]

A grand hotel on hard times recalls it's glory years, stewarded by a charismatic but despotic fancy-pants concierge in a fictional Alpine country roughly fixed in central Europe, somewhere in the Austro-Hungarian Empire surely, in a time roughly analogous to between the wars.

Large ensemble cast features Ralph Fiennes as the scheming concierge, demanding the highest standards of deportment and sophistication that he's all too willing to model for the hotel's staff, but comically descending into crass and vulgar tirades when things don't go his way.

He takes a new lobby boy on as his protege, and they develop the sort of movingly-loyal-but-dysfunctional relationship Max Fischer had with his underclassman protege in Rushmore, and the boy stands by him as he gets knocked from his perch, along with the hotel and the country, as war (could be WWI or WWII or neither) approaches.

[fimg=500]http://apnatimepass.com/the-grand-budapest-hotel-movie-poster-1.jpg[/fimg]

[Vic Sage]

i think people generally either like Wes Anderson's films or they don't; not in every case, but i think his movies have a certain identifiable style that either appeals to you or does not. On the other hand, he's such a unique filmmaker, people can love one of his films and hate another. So i guess i'm contradicting myself. Nevermind.

As for me, I loved RUSHMORE, LIFE AQUATIC, and liked MOONRISE KINGDOM, but hated DARJEELING and TANNENBAUMS, so i'll give this one a try at some point, despite that its premise doesn't really appeal to me. I also still want to see MR. FOX.

[Edgy MD]

It's a little more slapstick at times than most of them. As I said, it has more in common with Rushmore than most others, but it obviously stands apart from the lot, with the expansive cast, and set in a time that isn't really analogous to or representative of Anderson's childhood. Although latter day depictions of the hotel show it in a state of neglect decades after a sixties/seventies renovation, so his favorite design period does get in there.

It's confusing to start, because it's told within a triple-frame-story narration, but that turns out to be a cool thing, as do the fun exterior models and exterior sets that come right out of mid-20th century filmmaking. There's a sequence that takes place on gondolas suspended over the Alps, and it could have easily been done on an old set left over from Night Train to Munich.

I must note that, for the second straight Anderson film, a pet is cavalierly killed to advance a little dark comedy. What's up with that?

Sometimes, I think, he can get so self-conscious in his stylizing, that an Anderson film can become an Anderson-y film, as if he's coming up with ideas and going, "That's so ME!" I think that's part of what may or may not go wrong in Royal Tannebaums, and there's a little of that here, I think. But you'll probably find that Fiennes, new to the Anderson company, works here as a good, flawed Anderson protagonist.

Depending on the perspective, one may think of the "Lobby Boy" character as the protagonist, but Fiennes' character is certainly the central one.

[Guest sharpie]

I didn't care for DARJEELING LIMITED; THE LIFE AQUATIC or THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS but I liked RUSHMORE; FANTASTIC MR. FOX; MOONRISE KINGDOM and BOTTLE ROCKET.

I also liked THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL. Yes, it was twee but that's what you get these days in his movies. Not his best, but not bad.

[Guest themetfairy]

SNL having fun with Wes Anderson -

[youtube:1zjtf4eb]gSEzGDzZ1dY[/youtube:1zjtf4eb]

[ashie62]

Loved Rushmore but this stunk...

[RealityChuck]

Saw it this weekend. I think that Anderson just gets better and better. This may have been his best (though Moonrise Kingdom was also great). His earlier films consisted of quirky moments, but never really combined into a whole movie; these last two did.

[Guest themetfairy]

We caught this on HBO this evening. I don't know whether Wes Anderson is getting better or whether he's just growing on me, but I enjoyed it - it was a charming tale, told with an appropriately light and whimsical touch.

[Vic Sage]

yes, i too finally caught up with this one and was glad of it. loved the structure of the storytelling, the design, the performances. The film is both unique and totally Andersonian. Even my wife liked this one, and she hates his films. I'm not sure how the young Indo-Asian lad grew up into F. Murray Abraham, but it's a small quibble.

[Guest themetfairy]

Vic Sage wrote: I'm not sure how the young Indo-Asian lad grew up into F. Murray Abraham, but it's a small quibble.

I had an issue with that too, but was able to shrug it off as an Andersonian thing.