Quirky, eccentric and effortlessly charming, The Grand Budapest Hotel is another great stride in Wes Anderson's career, the simple tale of a larger than life concierge and his loyal bell boy will captivate and delight you.
The film begins in the fictional European republic of Zubrowska, where we meet our eloquent narrator simply known as "The Author" (represented at two points in his life by F. Murray Abraham and Jude law respectively) he tells us of his trip to the hotel in the sixties and adds that the once illustrious building has fallen onto hard times as the result of war. We are shortly introduced to the aloof and mysterious proprietor who after a polite back and forth between himself and the author begins to speak about his life.
This hurtles us back to the thirties where Zero Moustafa (played by newcomer and breakout star Tony Revolori) begins his career as a bell boy, without spoiling too much Zero is our deadpan hero who strides loyally besides the larger than life concierge of the hotel, Gustave H (played by Ralph Fiennes who you can tell is having far too much fun with the part). He is a whimsical, romantic poetry reciting ponce with a penchant for women, notably rich elderly women with blonde hair. While not much is ever revealed about Gustave his camp country gentleman persona is often stripped away at moments of crisis to reveal the foul mouthed impatient bastard he really is, and makes him all the more likable. The Don Quixote and Sancho style duo are very much the heart of the piece.
At this point the death of an old acquaintance, Gustave and his loyal lobby boy are thrust into a surreal little adventure involving a prison break, some bobsledding in the mountains and a hotel shootout over a priceless painting left for him in the will (and maybe a little more) much to the dismay of the spurned son, Dmitri Desgoffe-und-Taxis (Adrien Brody playing a sociopath with Robert Smith hair) who wants back what's his and Gustave dead. Along the way you have all the usual Wes Anderson players alongside a smorgasbord of cameos each bringing their own unique flavour to the endearing picture.
The film is ripe with tonal changes in both colour and mood, the hotel itself is as grandiose and colourful as its owner and later changes to a darker tone when the keys are passed on to Zero. Full to the brim with heart and hilarity, there are so many small blink and you'll miss it gags you'll have to watch a few times to catch them all adding to its replay value and despite catching yourself grinning from ear to ear the narrative is so delicate and subtle when tragedy reaches our characters you find yourself genuinely caring, something I think is rare in a lot of films lately.
My only issue? Needs more Bill Murray.
In conclusion The Grand Budapest Hotel is a fast paced romp with razor sharp wit and a style all of its own. It should be a surprise to no one when this becomes a cult classic that will be up there with Withnail and I.
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