The Grand Budapest Hotel

Wes Anderson, You Genius

Director: Wes Anderson
Release Date: 2014
Rating: 15
Running Time: 95 mins
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Jude Law, Edward Norton, Harvey Keitel, Willem Dafoe, Owen Wilson, Mathieu Almeric, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Jason Schwartzman, Adrien Brody, Saoirse Ronan, Tony Revolori

How would I sum up 'The Grand Budapest Hotel'? I simply have no clue where to even begin.

Ralph Fiennes for me has potentially just given the performance of his career in this outstanding film directed by the artist that is Wes Anderson. In the past ten years the director has come so far in what he's made and what he's achieved, so much so that the director can afford to basically work with anyone he chooses. Needless to say the cast for 'The Grand Budapest' is absolutely phenomenal and Anderson has cast a whole range of talent to work with him, they did not let him down. The fast paced nature of this incredible film will carry you through a labyrinth of events that throughout will have you feeling baffled, shocked and in fits of laughter.

It maybe a slightly confusing film, that being 'TGBH' takes place as a girl reading a story, about a story, about a story, though not as hard to grasp as you may think. We start off being carried through the film by Jude Law, a man narrating his visit to The Grand Budapest Hotel years after it was once the grand masterpiece it was known for being. It's got to be said that the narration done by Law in this sounds somewhat reminiscent of 'Lemony Snicket's: A Series of Unfortunate Events', so much so the feel of settings and visual effects in a way are managed to match as well. We start off being welcomed into a much more dingy and run down Grand Budaest hotel, I did find myself wondering if it was in fact a more ironic title than a serious one and we begin hearing the story of the once Grand Budapest Hotel, from the now owner, then Bell Boy working for none other than the excentric and wonderfully ignorant concierge M. Gustave.H and it is there that the story unravels into a web of outrageously brilliant events.

Wes Anderson always works with such a unique style it's fairly easy to spot a film by the auspicious director. They're typically overly zany and almost set in a world very separate from our own. Particularly through his use of colour and the way that he's almost portraying a live action set in a cartoon world. There's a strong emphasis on colour, eccentric characters and bizarre plot twists in all of Wes Anderson's films, in 'TGBH' it's fair to say it followed suit and remained as what can only be described as a typical Wes Anderson film. The incredibly witty and humorous performance from Ralph Fiennes very much suited this amazing bright pink hotel where the uniforms worn are a strong purple colour and everything was made to feel very grand and stupendous indeed. Humour is something that reoccurs throughout the entire film and in fact I can't remember the last time I laughed so much in the cinema, I found the whole thing incredibly entertaining. One of the funniest things about the film was the way that another famous face would pop up every five minutes and I've got to say that I reckon Wes Anderson is trying to make Ed Norton and Harvey Keitel, two very well respected actors, look more and more ridiculous in each film they're in by him, going from scout leaders to, well it's probably better you just watch it.

I simply cannot praise this film enough and it's certainly up there with the best film I've seen recently, maybe even overall and I hope this isn't the end for this outstanding directors. I think it would be amazing if WA was able to make a film funnier and more entertaining than this one, albeit on par with 'TGBH', simply because I found it so wonderfully brilliant and original. Without giving too much away I found it the perfect mix of emotions and atmospheres in this film and combined all aspects of what we want to see in the cinema, even including some scenes of comic violence, sex and a profanity cursed in almost every other line, in this way it's a very 'taboo' film yet some how the man manages to get away with it and actually pull it off. I suppose it's quite similar to Seth Macfarlane with 'Family Guy' due to the unbelievable and cartoon element it's got to it. Basically what I am saying is the man can do no wrong and at an easily digestible 95 minutes it's a film that won't require too much effort to watch and will keep you so transfixed you'll be sad when it ends.

9/10