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HOME > QUIPSOGRAPHY > THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL (2014) > PAGE 2 The movie opens by indulging an elderly novelist, The Author, an unnamed European national treasure who spent a short time in the late 1960s as a young globetrotting writer lodging at the near-empty, gloomily retro-fitted ruin of the sleepy mountainside Town of Nebelsbad's once-majestic, ornate pink Art Nouveau Jewel of the Alps, The Grand Budapest Hotel. But, this picture isn't about any of that. The real saga, shares an aged Zero, unfolds during the hotel's glorious heyday in 1932 when a series of audacious turn of events are unleashed following the untimely fatal poisoning of Madame Celine Villenueve Desgoffe-und-Taxis, an enormously wealthy widow and long-time favourite seasonal guest of The Grand Budapest Hotel. In a last-minute addendum to her will's stack of countless adjustments, octogenarian "Madame D" bequeaths the beloved cad Gustave her priceless 17th century oil, Boy With Apple, by Dutch Master Johannes Van Hoytl - much to the volcanic rage of the vast Desgoffe-und-Taxis estate's heir, Dmitri, who has Gustave swiftly framed and tried for murder and then dispatches murderous goon J.G. Jopling, Esq. to permanently silence the only man who can change Gustave's fate. All the while, young lovers Zero and Agatha loyally protect the secreted painting as they help Gustave and his scheming cellmate comrades escape their brutal prison fortress. Immediately and consistently, The Grand Budapest Hotel is also a visually luxurious treat, from the smallest prop detail mastered by lead graphic designer Annie Atkins and Oscar-winning production designer Adam Stockhausen to the most outrageously appropriate period fashions realized by triple Oscar-winning costume designer Milena Canonero. The over-all look of this film is easily its most notably dazzling character, frankly. As for the human actors this amazing cast consists of, everyone clearly has a blast portraying these oddball characters populating writer/director Anderson's latest cinematic world. Tony Revolori marks his big screen debut here, delivering a fantastic performance as the young and unassuming Zero who quickly adapts to his prestigious mentor's pointed and often questionable ways. There's one of many key scenes in this movie where you know exactly what Zero's up to, by simply reading his silent expression. Awesome. Top marks also go to Saoirse Ronan for pulling in an exceptionally charming performance as Zero's love interest Agatha, the unsung maker of the Grand Budapest's heavenly signature confection, the Courtisane au Chocolat. Primary supporting players Tilda Swinton, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Edward Norton, and Jeff Goldblum wonderfully round out the picture with their individually captivating, often side-splitting efforts here. Possibly the only measurable flaws with this movie are with the initial pacing and the camera work. Fairly minor. The beginning tends to drool at the speed of molasses in winter as it dallies with each opening layer that takes a paying audience back through time. We start in present day at The Author's grave site, then slip backwards a few decades to The Author as an old man, then we go further back into a flashback of The Author as a young man, in the 1960s, before we finally settle in with the main story - a flashback to the 1930s within The Author's 1960s flashback - brought on by the slipping backwards thing with The Author, from the present day thing-thing. Ding-ding, yes, I get the "novel" homage to Stefan Zweig so his ghost doesn't sue anyone into the stone ages for ripping off his work unpaid. Well played. My point is this feature - as wondrous and clever as it is - takes its sweet time getting its shit in gear. Equally failing is cinematographer Robert D. Yeoman's constant inclusion of static framing for scenes that various characters enter and exit. Like living postcards, jammed in with chainsaw accuracy throughout. I realize this is a Wes Anderson-ism, but it's a needlessly over-used and jarring distraction that truly deserves far more restraint if not complete abandonment. Those scenes just look like any random nearby hobo got a dollar to slap the camera on a tripod and press the go button to keep production on schedule. You go, hobo. Immensely entertaining and visually phenomenal over-all, The Grand Budapest Hotel is an hilariously quirky adventure packed with an outstanding all-star cast led by the phenomenal Ralph Fiennes. Whether you're a Wes Anderson fan or not, do yourself a huge favour and check out this decadently fun, richly-detailed cinematic confection at the biggest big screen possible at least once. Reviewed 03/14, © Stephen Bourne, moviequips.ca. The Grand Budapest Hotel is rated
14A by the Ontario Film Review Board, citing scenes containing
some grotesque images in a fantasy, comedic or historic context,
coarse language, slurs, sexual references, non-sexual nudity
with no close-ups, partial or full nudity in a brief sexual situation,
embracing and kissing, implied sexual activity, tobacco use,
and restrained portrayals of non-graphic violence, and is rated
G by la Régie du Cinéma in Québec. REFERENCE: |
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