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Release date (India):
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July 25, 2014
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Director:
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Wes Anderson
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Cast:
Language:
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Ralph Fiennes,
Tony Revolori, Tilda Swinton, Jeff Goldblum, Willem Dafoe, Adrien Brody, Owen
Wilson and an army of other stars
English
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Wes
Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel
is a quaint, quirky, wacky, whimsical little film that disguises its depth and
beauty in seeming simplicity. In one sentence, this is the story of an old man
relating to a young writer the events that led to him becoming the owner of a
premier hotel perched on a mountaintop in the historic city of Budapest. In 99
minutes what we get is a poignant lament – couched in farce – for times gone by,
steeped in humour, historical references, social commentary, suspense and
intrigue.
Using a
flashback-within-a-flashback-within-a-flashback format (quite remarkably
without getting confusing at any point), the film first shows us a girl
marching up to a monument to a writer in a cemetery. She then starts reading
from a book, and what we get is an old man known only as Author (Tom Wilkinson)
narrating from his desk in 1985 the tale of a trip he made to the once-lavish,
now-declining Grand Budapest Hotel in 1968 where he (his younger self played by
Jude Law) met its elderly owner Zero Mustafa (F. Murray Abraham), who goes
further back in time to reveal how he came to be in possession of this property.
The film’s
primary plot is set in early 1930s Europe, in the fictional Republic of
Zubrowka where the decadent rich while away their time, seemingly oblivious to
the extreme poverty and Hitler’s forces, both of which are just around the
corner. The Grand Budapest is run by the fastidious Monsieur Gustave (Ralph
Fiennes), the concierge whose impeccable services include bedding many among
the wealthy old women who frequent his establishment. An immigrant of
indeterminate nationality, the young Zero (Tony Revolori) is at that point being
trained as a lobby boy by Gustave.
Gruesome
murders, greedy children, a stolen painting, a ridiculously improbable prison
escape, a cold-blooded assassin, thrilling chases down snowy mountain slopes
and through hotel corridors, pretty pastries, a shootout, an unlikely
friendship and true love are all served up on this delicious platter by
Anderson.
The director’s
visual signature is all over this film with its painterly settings deliberately
designed to resemble picture postcard images – somewhat removed from reality
even while capturing it. Interestingly enough, despite using live actors, Anderson
manages to create a look reminiscent of Steven Spielberg’s 3D motion capture
film The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011) and Herge’s comic books. It
seems to be intentional. The hotel’s facade, for one, is a curiously
fascinating celluloid confection, something like Hansel and Gretel’s fairytale candy
house with pink frosting.
Each
frame is mounted on an exaggerated scale, with every scene seeming to both mock
and mourn auld lang syne. The eccentric
acting and action sequences along with the unrelenting background score cheekily
reference old-world detective capers and the cinematic style of an era where
over-playing was the norm. Some of the more suspenseful scenes look like they
could have fitted just as well into the Pink Panther series. You can almost see
how Da tan da tan da tan da tan da tan da
tan da tan would suit this goofy film.
The
charismatic Fiennes here seems to be revelling in the opportunity to set aside
his usual naturalistic approach to acting for this oddball project. Newcomer
Revolori is a revelation. As delightful as their performances is the joy of
spotting an army of major stars appearing throughout the film in small roles,
some of which are significant and some not: a virtually unrecognisable Tilda
Swinton looking like what Marge Simpson might be at the age of 200, Jeff
Goldblum, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Saoirse Ronan, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson. Goldblum
as a weird lawyer and Dafoe as a brutal hitman are particularly memorable.
I won’t
list the entire cast here (yes, there’s more!) because playing spot-the-star is
a game many in the audience could enjoy. Anderson himself is evidently having
fun not just with the overall job at hand but with the casting too.
The
director of The Royal Tenenbaums and Moonrise Kingdom has credited the works
of Austrian novelist Stefan Zweig as his inspiration for The Grand Budapest Hotel. Knowing that adds a touch of melancholy
to most possible interpretations of this film since the character known as
Author appears to be modelled on Zweig himself. The rise of the Nazis prompted the
real Zweig – who was a Jew – to flee his motherland. He reportedly committed
suicide many years later along with his wife, apparently in despair at being a
man without a country.
The film
won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Berlin International Film
Festival where it was the opening film. It has made its way to India about five
months after hitting theatres in the West. For Indians who couldn’t bring
themselves to wait for the official release and found a way of watching it
anyway, here’s a tip: some films are born to be seen on the big screen.
The Grand Budapest Hotel is
such a nuanced affair, that after watching it in its entirety, it’s still hard
to decide whether to consider it a comedy or a tragedy. Is it just a
light-hearted frothy entertainer referencing a bygone cinematic world? Or is it
– as Roberto Benigni’s Life Is Beautiful managed
so effectively to be – a stinging criticism of war and violence despite its
deceptive veneer of playfulness and fun? Perhaps it is both, perhaps it is
neither. What it is for sure is an experience.
Rating (out of five): ***1/2
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CBFC Rating (India):
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A
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Running time:
MPAA Rating (US):
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99 minutes
R (for
language, some sexual content and violence)
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Release date in the US:
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March 7, 2014
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