There are a few directors that I will go see any movie they make; granted not a lot, but Wes Anderson has been one of those directors for quite some time. While both his recent movies, Fantastic Mr. Fox and Moonlight Kingdom, weren’t exactly my favorite films, they still had enough Anderson to keep me entertained. Well that, and almost every movie has a little bit of Bill Murray in them.
That being said, when The Grand Budapest Hotel was announced, I was more then a little excited. I watched all the trailers and patiently waited for our local indie movie house to have the film. The one thing I didn’t count on was finding someone to go with me. Long story short, I had to wait for the Blu-Ray release. Is The Grand Budapest Hotel a four-star hotel? Or is this more of a Best Western? Yeah I know, hotel humor, it was hard to resist.
Story
I’ll do my best not to spoil any of the fun, though it will be tough. Let’s start where the film takes place: The Grand Budapest Hotel. (I know, shocking right?)
What’s really fun with the movie is its ability to tell multiple stories in different time periods. This is done with a rather interesting visual cue of changing the framing of the movie. When it’s present day the aspect ratio is 16:9, while in the past it’s 4:3. Our story begins in the present with a look at the current state of the Hotel and its inhabitants. You are introduced to the Hotel’s owner who begins to tell the story of the Grand Budapest in its glory days.
During this flashback you are introduced to the concierge, Gustave, who by the look of things is very good at what he does, which seems to be a lot of flirting with very old rich woman, who all seem to adore him. By happenstance Gustave meets the new bellhop named Zero. After a brief interview, he decides to take Zero under his wing and teach him the ways of the Hotel. This is where things take an interesting turn. Madame D, one of Gustave’s “friends,” has died mysteriously, leaving him a painting entitled “Boy With Apple.” You can guess the family of Madame D isn’t too pleased with this, and they attempt to get it back by any means necessary.
Video Quality
This is a movie that certainly needs to be watched on a Blu-Ray. With the colors simply exploding off the screen, it created an interesting atmosphere that was really fun to watch. It almost reminded me of a play; it felt very much like art. Couple that with the amazing locations, it was really mesmerizing at times, and certainly something to give a second watching. The only complaint I had was the framing. It was a neat way of having a visual cue, but the backgrounds were so amazing to see, you just wanted to have a full widescreen shot.
Sound Quality
The soundtrack is definitely worth mentioning. Alexandre Desplat returns to bring us some of the most charming music, very period but generally entertaining. Like a soundtrack should, it set the mood many times in the flick, with a wide range of themes as well. The movie features a 5.1 DTS HD recording of the film, which sounded great. I would however like to see a full 7.1 in a future release.
Overall
While I certainly enjoyed the film, I felt at times it lost its charm. The film was a little longer then it needed to be, and Gustave, while an entertaining character at times, was a bit off-putting. I would certainly recommend this to any Wes Anderson fan, though it might be a tough sell to a wider audience. It’s certainly something best enjoyed with more indie / art types of people.
Be sure to hit up another take on The Grand Budapest Hotel with Leland Pierce Jr. from Movie Issues in his review.