Grand Budapest Hotel Review

COVID-19 has done an excellent job at pillaging my events calendar. I barely even open it to see what’s scheduled anymore. But the virus wasn’t as diligent as The Grinch raiding Whoville.

Film club is one of the few items that remains unscathed by the efforts to lessen the curve. We aren’t sitting around a table with snacks in one of the library meeting rooms. Instead, we find a comfy spot in our homes and open up a Zoom session. It’s film club, we were going to stare at a screen anyway.

We were in for some changes to the meeting format for our little band of cinephiles, whether COVID hit or not. Initially, we turned our focus almost exclusively to short films. We’re broadening the scope of material to full-length films, and we use our meeting time to discuss the movie we’ve watched independently.

May’s schedule had us watching two Wes Anderson films. I was not looking forward to these assignments. I know he and his movies are very popular and receive accolades upon accolades. But, I couldn’t bring myself to explore his works with any gusto or enthusiasm.

OK. I just avoided his work for the most part after watching The Royal Tenenbaums. I had been excited to see that one when it was released. And then I watched it. Even having rented the movie for free, I wanted money back for the time spent in that emotionally stunted world.

Isle of Dogs was the first film to break my avoidance of the director’s work back in 2018. I hadn’t realized Wes Anderson was the director until the credits rolled. I shouldn’t have been surprised. The stunning use of color and images, not to mention the presence of Bill Murray, should have clued me in. Sitting here writing about it makes me want to revisit that movie for a review as I could have almost seen it taking the Oscar over Into the Spider-verse.

May’s selections to further smash my Anderson dodging were The Life Aquatic and The Grand Budapest Hotel.

I did not make it through The Life Aquatic. It had many of the same qualities The Royal Tenenbaums did. However, it was a far prettier movie from a visual perspective. And as such, I won’t be trying to compare and contrast the two films.

When we hit play on The Grand Budapest Hotel, I had been bracing myself for the same experience as Aquatic and Tenenbaums. I know I have more time on my hands, but losing two hours to an unsatisfying movie is still a lot to lose. These preparations of mine were in vain and quickly abandoned.

Stylistic elements were signaling that these three films were siblings. Distinct color palette. Common actors. Blunt end scenes to emphasize the story shifting gears. Not to mention the frequent dollops of emotional awkwardness. The Grand Budapest was different, though. The blending of these elements was more nuanced, coming together to feel natural and even normal.

The film opens with what I can only describe as a Babushka doll method of bringing us to the story of the title hotel. The audience is brought down into the main action through a slow free-fall setup. Each layer building up a sense of authenticity- no, that might be the wrong word.

There is an authenticity to it, but because we see events through not just one character’s filter but several. What is on the screen is tinted with the perspective of the current narrator. This graduated fall into the tale disarms any disbelief for the audience as the story unfolds.

Like all of his films, he collected a phenomenal ensemble cast. Ralph Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham, Jude Law, Saoirse Ronan, Edward Norton, Tony Revolori, Tilda Swinton…I could go on and on with this one. Everyone put in fantastic performances allowing these characters to jump from the silver screen and feel genuine instead of caricatures.

The Grand Budapest Hotel is a meaty movie, to say the least. Our film club discussion ran well over the hour we had planned. Everyone latched on to different facets of the movie, leading to a very animated and titillating film conversation.

This is a film I might revisit in a spoiler-filled, in-depth dive post. I know, it’s been six years, but I’d hate to ruin a movie for someone. Let’s be honest, no one wants a movie spoiled.

If you haven’t seen it, I would highly recommend giving this film a try. It’s not like you’re going anywhere, right? Ahh… soon, that statement will be less accurate than it is right now if everything goes right. That’s it for now, Nerd Girls. Hopefully, see you tomorrow for another Thirsty Thursday!