The Grand Budapest Hotel review

BEST NEW FEATURE

So the new film from famous director Wes Anderson was finally released in Calgary theatres recently. What do I think? Find out below the break.
The Grand Budapest Hotel is about the adventures of M. Gustave H, the owner of the Grand Budapest Hotel, and his lobby boy, Zero, as they are framed for the murder of one of Gustave's... consorts. There exists not one, but in fact three framing devices, oddly enough, though two of them never amount to much. But although most of the framing devices are arguably pointless, they do look very nice, something that is also true of the more substantial parts of the film.

In fact, I'd say that the film looks downright gorgeous. Wes Anderson uses a brilliant palette of colours to paint his scenes, and between that and the excess of wide shots, much of the film looks almost like a painting. Everything about the environments looks fantastic, and the design is often ornate but never ridiculous. The result is a visual treat, although for the viewer that is less interested in visuals, there is much more substance to be found.

Perhaps the other great strength of The Grand Budapest Hotel is its comedy. The whole film was arranged with no shortage of big laughs. Be it visual comedy, comedic delivery, or whatever the case may be, the film is consistently funny throughout its entire 99 minutes. Even better, at no point does the film feel like it's 99 minutes long. The humour and the gorgeous cinematography work together with an abundance of energy to keep the movie from ever dragging. It moves briskly, and there's never a dull moment.

Of course, there is also depth and emotion to be gleaned from the film. The relationship between Gustave and Zero grows as the film goes on, giving both characters plenty of development. The movie opens its main characters up to many interpretations, which serves to add even more colours to the film's wonderfully diverse palette.

The acting is also excellent. Ralph Fiennes as M. Gustave is a constantly compelling screen presence, and Tony Revolori as young Zero also delivers a great performance. F. Murry Abraham plays older Zero with a combination of emotion that gives the character a greater depth, and Adrien Brody is consistently fantastic as the evil Dimitri.

As for the film's faults, I'd say that there weren't many things that bothered me. As mentioned, some of the framing devices didn't seem to have much point, but perhaps a bigger issue is that the deepest level of the film, that is the one that is shown most often, is represented with a skewed aspect ratio that never filled the screen. At first it was distracting but in the end it is ultimately ignorable. At the same time, it is a strange design choice that I don't think paid off.

In the end, though, it's an entertaining, colourful romp that is not lacking in depth and shows excellent craftsmanship. It doesn't have much competition this early in the year, but at the moment it is a contender for the best film of 2014. Of course, that means I would highly recommend that you go see it... if it's playing near you, of course.

9/10

Extended thoughts (Warning: Spoilers)