The Grand Budapest Hotel

[Beate]

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

Because you don't just see a film. It's a 4 hour experience, complete with food and drink:
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-enter ... 57698.html

That's not to say that I would do it myself.

[LondonCityNights]

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

Because you don't just see a film. It's a 4 hour experience, complete with food and drink:
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-enter ... 57698.html

That's not to say that I would do it myself.

It was great - though even for what you get £53 is quite a lot. I later worked out that I could've gotten a return flight to Budapest and stayed in an actual hotelthere for about the same price. Oh well.

[asamaic]

I assumed food and drink was on top of the £53 after reading this one: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/thea ... eview.html

Both writers seem to agree it's a waste if you haven't seen the film first. I can see the attraction, immersive theatre done well is a great experience, so £53 for something in that vein would be more rewarding than a second price ticket to a West End show.

[Beate]

Yes but would they have shown you the film as well?

[TheyCallMeMrGlass]

I have a confession to make. The only Wes Anderson film I have seen is The Fantastic Mr Fox which being an animated film, I found to be enjoyably quirky and rather surreal, although I am not certain such a word can be used for an animated film.


I dont normally see two films in one day but I somehow felt in the mood after watching the fun adrenaline junk movie, Need for Speed. So I thought this film will be a nice gentle wind down. I had Moonrise Kingdom as a prerequisite on my Lovefilm rental queue and hoped to have seen it before watching this but alas I go into this movie as a Wes Anderson virgin (at least for his live action movies).

Well, now that I have seen it, and going by the general consensus that this is a typical Wes Anderson film, I can only conclude that ALL his films are "animated" movies and furthermore, this was absolutely not the wind down I was expecting!

But I ain't complaining because this was a truly oddball, slightly Gilliamesque, visually abstract journey splayed with tremendous wit and a flair for narrative prose that is akin to taking several shots of Absinthe. I loved it.

It has many flaws including a lot of flat jokes but they hardly matter whenever Ralph Fiennes graces the screen with the finest comical performance I have had the joy of watching in recent years. His timing and elegance in delivery is utter perfection. Fiennes has demonstrated a flair for subtle comedy in the past...heck even as Voldemont, there was a comical ignorance about him, not to mention the hilariously goofy laugh he did in the final Potter movie. There is something about him that reminded me of Leonard Rossiter (a great british comic actor in the 70s) who was a master of displaying naivety, struggling to fit into a social environment that was clearly at odds with him. Fiennes channels a similar vein here. But of course credit goes to Wes Anderson for creating this wonderful character in the first place, a naively optimistic soul who makes every effort to maintain a civilised integrity in a world that is obviously and hilariously incompatible to his idealisms. And it is that simple concept that masterly encapsulates the madcap narrative.

There were a couple of nasty moments that shocks in a gory way but its all part of this decidedly wacky package. But amongst the wackiness, Anderson's narrative manages to sprinkle the unsuspecting emotional punches and melancholy that on reflection, I can only admire the masterfulness of how he pulls that off.

There are a plethora of high calibre support actors in here but none of them are actually given any substantial material to shine and to be memorable...apart from perhaps Willem Dafoe in a highly caricatured version of his old classic villainous turns of his early career but still, its not an outstanding small role for him to lend his now aged gravitas to.

Therefore, this is absolutely the Ralph Fiennes show, a tour de force for him.

Despite the negatives, such as the shoving of high calibre actors into non impactual cameos and some jokes falling flat, this still is a delightfully visceral, funny and exhilarating ride on a high speed wagon driven by horses on acid. For me a highly enjoyable experience because being a Wes Anderson virgin (sort of) i found his unique style refreshing.

I cant say, if existing Wes Anderson fans will find this up to his normal standards or not but I cannot imagine fans being disappointed.

8.5/10


Right, now to catch up on a backlog of a WA movies!

[The Sparrow]

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

Because you don't just see a film. It's a 4 hour experience, complete with food and drink:
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-enter ... 57698.html

That's not to say that I would do it myself.

It was great - though even for what you get £53 is quite a lot. I later worked out that I could've gotten a return flight to Budapest and stayed in an actual hotelthere for about the same price. Oh well.

It does indeed sound like a wonderful experience although not one for me. I have read some negative comments about Secret Cinema before, now I come to think of it.

Personally, I'm one of those who would prefer cheaper prices rather than these highly priced experiences and that includes those cinemas where they serve food and drink at your table whilst you recline on a sofa! But each to their own. I might have preferred to fly to Budapest but as a one off, this experience does sound rather interesting.

[funthing29]

Oddball, quirky, funny and touching - I loved this. Wes Anderson surpassed Moonrise Kingdom here. Excellent performances and a brilliant soundtrack! 9/10.

[raj101]

another pleasant and picturesque Anderson movie, one that works better because its a narrated story rather than a movie trying unrelentingly to shoehorn reality into Wes's vision. Jude Law's narration means the scenes are a series of the listener (Law's) imagination as opposed to depicting realism. Nonetheless I will confess I have seen too many Wes movies recently and the style of GBH started to grate after a while. Probably would have enjoyed it more if it wasn't so similar to his other movies, or I hadn't seen so many of them recently that this one feels like yet another Anderson movie. Fantastic Fox felt inspired and fresh, Moonlight Kingdom was good, great in parts but overworked and this one being so similar is just too much Wes too soon. Will view GBH again at a later date once I've had a break from WA.

[Yinster]

Saw this today using an expired voucher which worked.

This is quirky but it does have a story. It is so colourful yet simple. 7/10

[munkey-josh]

I saw The Grand Budapest Hotel at the O2 Cineworld the other week. Fantastic film, one of the best films I've seen this year (even though its April). The opening scene is very funny, with the boy shooting the Author (Tom Wilkinson) and then apologising after. To me that sets film off knowing from that point the film is going to be a barrel of laughs.