The Grand Budapest Hotel, written and directed by Wes Anderson, inspired by the writings of Stefan Zweig - 10 out of 10

The Grand Budapest Hotel, written and directed by Wes Anderson, inspired by the writings of Stefan Zweig

10 out of 10

First, why not The Grand Bucharest Hotel? It would have been so fabulous to have our city with such a popular – included on the list of Top Rated Movies at 193 – critically acclaimed magnum opus – its average rating approaches 90 out of 100 – winner of 4 Oscars (although not the major ones for which it was short listed, Best Motion Picture and Best Director, it was won nonetheless the Golden Globe for Best Comedy – Musical and many other trophies)…our town is after all so frequently confused with Budapest…

The source of inspiration for this major, legendary by now motion picture could not have been any more impressive, for Stefan Zweig was a genius (not of the ‘stable’ variety that keeps barking from the White House, the golf courses and anywhere really) and his works are phenomenal from Twenty Four Hours in the Life of a Woman, included on the Le Monde Best 100 Novels of the 20^th Century list (http://realini.blogspot.com/2016/05/twenty-four-hours-in-life-of-woman-by.html) and Confusion (http://realini.blogspot.com/2016/11/note-on-confusion-by-stefan-zweig.html)

Gustave H. aka resplendent Ralph Fiennes – deserving at the very least of nominations for the Oscar and the Golden globe – is at the center of this complex, most often hilarious, often dark, with accents of horror if we consider the murder of Madame D. aka Tilda Swinton (for some bizarre reason, one of the least favorite artists for this cinephile), beheading of one character, the knifing of others, the fingers cut off and eventual killing of Deputy Kovacs aka serene, aristocratic, Zen like Jeff Goldblum film that is also a thriller, an action movie wherein the hero and his Sancho Panza aka Zero Moustafa aka the remarkable newcomer Tony Revolori have to go through sensational adventures.

Gustave H. is the concierge of the iconic Budapest Hotel that interviews the lobby boy, dismissing in the first place the qualifications of the young man, up to the point where, with naiveté and genuine, if somewhat childish aplomb Zero declares that ‘anybody would want to be lobby boy at that institution’, when asked about the reasons for his wanting the job, which he gets and then he becomes entangled in a very convoluted affair, trying to find the witness that would prove the innocence of the concierge, accused as he stands of killing the deceased Madame D., a former lover that leaves in her testament an extremely precious painting, that the hero promises that would bring 1.5% to Zero, if he helps him in this adventure and, eventually, after he will have been dead, the boy would inherit this and everything else the main character has in possession.

When he learns of the death of Madame D., the main character takes the train with his companion, only to be stopped by the police, brutalized and then released by Henckels aka Edward Norton, who knows him from his stay at the Grand Budapest, but who would still have to conduct the chase, when Gustave becomes a suspect – he is announced that there is a warrant and comically, he starts running on the stairs of the establishment, pursued by a troop of men of the law, then he escapes and is helped by the gild of hoteliers or something like it, with Monsieur Ivan aka divine Bill Murray coming to the rescue with a car and refusing the symbolic, traditional tip offered from the meagre savings of the rather poor Zero.

Eventually, in conflict with Dmitri aka Oscar winner Adrien Brody, who sees the inheritance as legitimately his and hires the services of a ruthless, cruel goon and hit man, Jopling aka Willem Dafoe, who cuts the fingers of the executor of the will, Deputy Kovacs, and then kills him, threatens the main witness of the defense, Serge X. aka fabulous Mathieu Amalric – indeed, this tremendous, without equal, international cast in which an extraordinary star like Karl Markovics, leading actor in the resplendent The Counterfeiters and other gems, only has such a small role as to be almost a cameo, is one of the highlights of the movie – and may kill him and decapitate his sister in retaliation.

As Gustave is jailed, he comes to the allowed visitor with black eyes, claiming he has established his place as an alpha male within the group inside, and then does make some useful connections and friends among the inmates, some of whom decide to take him on an escape plan designed by Ludwig aka Harvey Keitel– as aforementioned, this seems like half of Hollywood, albeit Keitel lives in New York, participated in the making of this film – which looks like a parody of other celebrated escape movies, from Shawshank Redemption to the Great Escape, seeing as the escapees use what appears like nail tools to break through the bars of a massive prison.

Agatha aka Saoirse Ronan, Zero’s fiancée, helps with a cake in which some those tools are hidden, they all break through – there is a brutal clash between one of the inmates and maybe five or more guards and they all get stabbed and killed, causing the funereal Gustave to state ‘I guess you call this a draw’- they then ride on cable cars, arrive at a monastery where they are given monks’ clothes and told to…sing, they meet with fugitive Serge, but he is dispatched by the serial killer Jopling and then they all put on…skies and engage in another massive chase, up to the point where the concierge is cornered and looks like he would fall into the precipice…this may be a reference to North by Northwest, the iconic Alfred Hitchcock movie, wherein the hero hangs by a thread on top of Mount Rushmore and then it all changes and ends within about a minute…

Wes Anderson has a place assured in the History of Cinema, among the most important film makers of all time, with beauties such as this one and Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/07/note-on-life-aquatic-with-steve-zissou.html) or The Royal Tenenbaums (http://realini.blogspot.com/2019/02/the-royal-tenenbaums-written-by-wes.html)