The Grand Budapest Hotel recalls a great opera written by a
virtuoso; such is the mastery of Wes Anderson’s direction that I simply cannot
imagine another film being made like it. Every single aspect falls into place
neatly and perfectly, and the whole film feels so pure of intent and spirit
that to watching it feels like taking a long, relaxing soak in the bathtub. You
feel cleansed afterwards.
M. Gustave, played by Ralph Fiennes, is a concierge in the
legendary Grand Budapest Hotel, which is located in the fictional republic of
Zubrowka, in between wars. Gustave is a warm, “well perfumed” man who is loved
by his clientele and seems to command respect at all corners. One day, one of
his most adoring patrons Madame. D (Tilda Swinton) dies in mysterious
circumstances, and he is left the painting “Boy With Apple”, much to the
chagrin of Madame. D’s son M Jean (Jason Schwartzman). Gustave is suspected of
foul-play, and as a result has to go on the run with his loyal lobby boy Zero
(Tony Revolori).
Except, Gustave and the painting and everything else are all
in a story being told by an older Zero (F. Murray Abraham) to an unnamed author
(Jude Law and Tom Wilkinson); and the whole thing is simply being read by a
young woman in a cemetery at the films’ beginning and end.
The cast, which is the definition of “all-star”, is frankly
superb. Anderson is good at assembling casts like this, and is also very deft
at using them; he seems to have a knack for stripping them back to their core
essence as an actor, and using them wisely. For example, Willem Defoe is an
actor who is very good at exuding menace, and in this film he plays a near-mute
assassin called J.G Jopling. Harvey Keitel has always been good at playing the
gruff man with an unspecified past who lives outside the law; he plays a
tattooed convict called Ludwig in this film. Jeff Goldblum has always been
adept at displaying a certain administrative neuroticism, and in this film he
plays a bespectacled lawyer and bookkeeper called Kovacs; it says a lot that
his first reaction, when being pursued by Jopling, is to take refuge inside a
museum.
And so on and so forth. Except, it must be said, for the
core duo of Finnes and Revolori as Gustave and Zero. Fiennes, simply, is a
sensation, and if the film did not have Anderson’s exemplary camerawork, you
still would not be able to take your eyes off the screen. He is a dashing,
cursing, gentlemanly figure who recalls Alec Guiness in Kind Hearts and
Coronets, a careful man of integrity (and, as Zero notes, a certain vanity).
Revolori is also excellent, playing a wide-eyed young man with a certain timid
loyalty. We learn slowly that he has no family, he has been tortured, and this
lends a certain honour to his actions; he is deeply loyal to Gustave, and the
two come to have a respect and care for each other.
And yet, there is much more to this film than simply actors.
There is an unmistakeable “Anderson” feel to this film, arguably the most
potent of his films so far, and every single shot could be mounted and placed
on a wall. It is a dazzling symposium of images which are undoubtedly his, with
the quick pans, silhouettes, symmetry and a luscious colour pallet.
And yet, there is even more to the film than this; as the
film draws to a close, the feeling comes that you are watching something great,
and something timeless. I have come this far without mentioning the war, for
example, which underpins the entire film and provides it with its message,
which for me is that we must not forget to appreciate the past, and that it
must be preserved at all costs. The film may have moments of humour, but they
all seem to be in service of a nobility, and the notion that we can learn from
what has gone before; making the destruction of it through warfare a tragedy.
This might appear to be a light film, but deep down it is deadly serious about
the points it is subtly making.
It all amounts to a one-of-a-kind film. An unconventional,
melancholy, funny, beautiful cinematic experience that is unforgettable. I was
deeply moved by it, and I connected with it more than a number of other films
I’ve seen lately. It is a masterpiece.
No comments:
Post a Comment