The Grand Budapest Hotel - Anarchic, Funny, Anderson

Last Sunday evening was film night in the house, and the DVD was Wes Anderson's recent eccentric comedy The Grand Budapest Hotel.  The film is a story within a story, in which an old man who owns the eponymous hotel - now fallen on hard times - recalls its glory days in which he was a lobby boy learning the ropes under the tutelage of the legendary concierge Gustave H (Ralph Feinnes).  Gustave H is an absolute eccentric, meticulous in everything he does and proud of the internationally-regarded status of the hotel under his leadership.  When lobby boy Zero arrives in the hotel it is the beginning of an extraordinary story involving a will, a precious painting and a family's efforts to keep Gustave H away from their inheritance.

The hotel exists in the made-up eastern European nation of Zubrowka, the story is set at some point between the two wars at a time of changing national borders and uncertainty about the future.  The film is 100% Wes Anderson, in that everything is styled to within an inch of its life.  The colours are all bright and garish, the frame of every shot is interestingly constructed without an inch of space left free.  When the action switches between time periods, the aspect ratio of the footage also changes.  Weird stop-animation is used to capture a ski-chase scene.  The cable car up to the hotel is rendered in similar animation.  I'm not sure if there's any intention behind these effects other than to make the film look visually interesting.  If anything they enhance the feeling that the film is set in a surreal past that no longer exists.

The cast list for this film is quite unbelievable.  I guess it says something about the regard with which actors on the A-list regard Anderson.  Ralph Feinnes leads, but there are minor roles played by - amongst others - Harvey Keitel, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Jeff Goldblum, Ed Norton, Bill Murray, Jude Law and Saoirse Ronan.  Quite the A-list I'm sure you'll agree.  I can only assume that the script looked as good on paper as the result does on screen.  The Grand Budapest Hotel is a film that's sometimes outlandishly funny, but constantly funny is a sideways sort of way, with weird moments and strange asides providing moments of surreal humour.

Ralph Feinnes is superb as the film's main character, bringing the right amount of comic timing to Gustave H's role while maintaining his prim outlook on life.  Interestingly, the actors are all allowed to retain their natural accents in the film.  Fiennes' Gustave H is (I assume) meant to be French, but he maintains his stiff English accent throughout.  In amongst the sea of American accents, perhaps the one that seems most out of place is Ronan's Irish, she's got such a gift for accents in her other film roles that some might be surprised to discover she's even from Ireland!

Assuming that Wes Anderson's insistence on style and weirdness doesn't get on your nerves (for some it might), then The Grand Budapest Hotel is a funny and enjoyable caper that's worth watching.  I am recommending it.