The Grand Budapest Hotel

[RAZORBACK]

Looking forward to catching this:

[newdot]

This could easily be my most anticipated film of the year

Wes Anderson is a genius director who has yet to put a foot wrong

[weirdfilms33]

I loved Moonrise Kingdom and really admire Wes Anderson's offbeat style. I have to say, I genuinely laughed so hard at this trailer.

'You're looking so well, darling, you really are. I don't know what sort of cream they've put on you down at the morgue, but .. I want some.'

[kevinknapman]

Saw a preview of this at the BFI Southbank on Tuesday.
A new Wes Anderson film is always something I look forward to and celebrate (so I may be biased) and The Grand Budapest Hotel certainly doesn't disappoint. A breathless and exhilarating confection of a film with a bittersweet, melancholic aftertaste. A film that offers up nostalgia for an era that never really existed.

Visually it is extraordinary. Wes Anderson at his most inventive and sublime, using the academy ratio as precisely and beautifully as any other format. Though he also uses 1.85 and 2.35:1 for the later time periods depicting the writer (first Tom Wilkinson, then as a younger man, Jude Law) who first hears the story of the hotel and its concierge from former lobby boy and current owner Zero Moustafa (F Murray Abraham).
Several memorable set pieces along the way make it an exciting film to watch too. A hilarious prison break scene, a ski and sled chase down a mountain and a shoot out in the hotel itself add to the fun.

It's a slight tale perhaps but Anderson keeps things moving at such a relentless pace (aided by Alexandre Desplat's playful, urgent score) that it's easy to ignore that. Perhaps only when the end comes too soon, does a tiny bit of disappointment come to mind. Though I suspect that's only because I would have been happy if it had passed the 2 hr mark.
However it is still a rich and fulfilling story as it's being told, mostly inspired by the nostalgia-infused work of Austrian writer Stefan Zweig. Though there's also a touch of old school Hollywood along the way. Obvious inspirations include the star-studded drama Grand Hotel and the snappy dialogue of Ernst Lubitsch, though a museum chase scene that ends in a gruesome murder has a strong Hitchcock feel to it.
It's still most obviously the work of Wes Anderson though, especially in it's painstakingly detailed sets and general air of precise artifice. Anderson's films always have an odd, otherworldly feel to them and none so more than here. Many of the exterior sets wouldn't have looked out of place in Fantastic Mr Fox.

An excellent cast also help to make this a memorable experience. With Ralph Fiennes on superior form as the poetry-reciting, profanity-spouting concierge M. Gustave. It's a stunning performance both physically and verbally, with Fiennes displaying a deft comic touch that we rarely see from him. There are, unsurprisingly, countless cameos from many Anderson regulars and several new famous faces along the way. Just don't expect many of them to stick around for too long though. Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson, Bob Balaban, Tilda Swinton and Bill Murray all appear briefly. Murray fans in particular may be disappointed by his limited screen time as a fellow concierge.
Amongst those with a little more screen time, Adrien Brody and Willem Defoe are suitably hiss-worthy as the villains and Harvey Keitel, Jeff Goldblum, Edward Norton, Saoirse Ronan, Mathieu Amalric, Wilkinson, Law and Abraham all impress in a variety of roles.
Special mention to relative unknown Tony Revolori though as the younger Zero, who holds his own in such esteemed company.

Overall The Grand Budapest Hotel is a wonderful film and one I definitely look forward to seeing again. Oh and stick around for a slight but delightful bit of animation that accompanies some of the end credits.

[Ms Thrifty]

I saw this today (free with a PH member's ticket, though it was a pa*d preview) ans was wondering what on earth to write, so am delighted to find that KK has beaten me to it!

So I'll settle for saying that for me, this was the sort of return to form for Wes Anderson that people mention hopefully whenever Woody Allen has a new film out. I was disappointed by, and disliked, Moonrise Kingdom, but this was all good and, though pointless, a thoroughly entertaining flight of fantasy.

[Diamond1]

Saw it, pa*d for it and loved it!!! Quirky and brilliant, entertaining and amusing! The acting is brilliant, the story has a beginning, a middle and an ending. Just sit back and enjoy it all.

[RAZORBACK]

Went to see this tonight and loved it, this movie definitely represents a real return to form for Anderson and I actually think it's my second favourite out of the films that he's made.

With a wonderfully comedic central performance from Ralph Fiennes, this is well worth the price of admission and more than deserves a 9/10 from me ...

[LondonCityNights]

pa*d £53 to see this at Secret Cinema, but it was worth it. What an absolutely brilliant piece of cinema. Beautiful, funny and touching. I think it might be his best yet - and I do love his other films.

Full review: http://www.londoncitynights.com/2014/03 ... ected.html

★★★★★

[The Sparrow]

Why on earth would anyone p*y £53 to see one film??

[alythonian]

I saw this last night with my cheap Cineworld tickets (thanks Yinster for posting). was a bit nervous as I hated Life Aquatic but liked the Darjeeling.

I loved this.

The colour on screen is beautiful and the whole film is so touchingly, and cleverly put together. This really was good and I'm so pleased I talked myself into going.