The Grand Budapest Hotel
Writer-director Wes Anderson's Academy Award-winning follow-up toMoonrise Kingdom, starring Ralph Fiennes as Mr. Gustave, the unflappable and perfectly composed concierge of the eponymous hotel. Shot in Germany, the all-star cast also includes Saoirse Ronan, Jude Law, Willem Dafoe, Adrien Brody, Edward Norton, Harvey Keitel and Jeff Goldblum.
Alpine Europe's remarkable Grand Budapest Hotel saw its glory days in the 1930s. It's in this period that new lobby boy Zero Moustafa (newcomer Tony Revolori) learns the tricks of the trade from Mr Gustave, falls in love with a baker's assistant (Ronan) and finds himself mixed up in quite an adventure. When Gustave inherits a priceless painting from a wealthy female guest of the hotel, one of many he served as a companion to, her son (Brody) stops at nothing to regain it - let alone murder. As the shadow of war falls across the country, Gustave and Zero embark on a madcap dash for survival.
Anderson has given hints to the tone and story, citing little-known Austrian novelist Stefan Zweig, filmmaker Billy Wilder, and the warm comedies of Ernst Lubitsch as inspirations. Says Anderson: "It's kind of European, inspired partly by Hollywood Europe, and also by some European writers around that time... that Europe which is not made in Europe at all [but instead] on the Hollywood back lot, even though we’re actually going to Europe to do it. It’s got some of that kind of thing in it."
- Director:
- Wes Anderson ('Moonrise Kingdom', 'Fantastic Mr Fox', 'The Royal Tenenbaums')
- Writer:
- Wes AndersonHugo Guinness
- Cast:
- Ralph FiennesF. Murray AbrahamMathieu AmalricAdrien BrodyWillem DafoeJeff GoldblumHarvey KeitelJude LawBill MurrayEdward NortonSaoirse RonanJason SchwartzmanLéa SeydouxTilda SwintonTony Revolori
Reviews & comments
Flicks, Steve Newall
flicksSet to be Wes Anderson’s highest-earning film, The Grand Budapest Hotel follows on the heels of the also successful Moonrise Kingdom in matching his now-familiar odd-bod aesthetic with a mainstream audience. But where Moonrise was awash with wistful nostalgia in its take on adolescence, romance and scouting, Anderson’s latest mines its period setting in service of a broadly comical tale which enjoys frequent diversions into both black and off-colour humour even as a body count amasses and the Second World War threatens to intrude on the borders of the titular hotel’s fictitious homeland.
The Grand Budapest is Grand
This is a typical Wes Anderson movie with a dreamy wardrobe, beautiful actors and fantastic sets. From the props to the way each shot filters into another, this movie is pure genius. It starts off a little slow but once the story gets going, there's not much to top this movie. All of the characters are well thought out as is normal for an Anderson movie, it...
Idiosyncratic Brilliance
I think we can all agree that Wes Anderson’s films are, of themselves, their own genre. Comedy, drama, crime, adventure. These are all genres one could label The Grand Budapest Hotel, but I think simply saying “It’s a Wes Anderson film”, sums it up quite well. Ralph Fiennes plays Monsieur Gustave H., the oddball concierge of the Hotel. When he is not busy...
Fun but frenetic as Wes scales the peak.
Wes Anderson seems to have reached his zenith with this. I doubt if he can go any further with this extreme Victorian theatrical styling. Visually gorgeous but somewhat jarring as we race through a fairly simple story made to feel complex. The usual suspects pop in and out in cameos of varying length, the painted and cutout backdrops are in abundance and...
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Typically stylish and incredibly funny. Wes Anderson's idiosyncratic screwball comedy, The Grand Budapest Hotel is a blast. The story starts with F. Murray Abraham telling Jude Law his adventures as the Grand Budapest lobby boy. Ralph Fiennes plays Monsieur Gustave, the charming owner of the Grand Budapest Hotel. He seduces the elder female guests of the...
Variety
pressA captivating 1930s-set caper… offers a vibrant and imaginative evocation of a bygone era.
Total Film
pressLike the eye-catching cakes Agatha makes, Anderson’s eighth feature has a heft beneath its icing, heart behind its artifice. Check in, and you won’t want to leave.
Time Out
pressThere’s nothing like the glow of a truly great film—and this could be Wes Anderson’s keeper—to trigger some niggling reservations.
The New York Times
pressI found myself not only charmed and touched but also moved to a new level of respect.
The Guardian
pressA nimblefooted, witty piece, but one also imbued with a premonitory sadness at the coming conflagration [World War II].
Hollywood Reporter
pressAn idiosyncratic period comedy that will delight connoisseurs more than the wide public.
Empire Magazine
pressAnother meticulously stylish and deadpan Wes Anderson movie that walks the fine line between masterpiece and folly.
Flicks, Steve Newall
flicksSet to be Wes Anderson’s highest-earning film, The Grand Budapest Hotel follows on the heels of the also successful Moonrise Kingdom in matching his now-familiar odd-bod aesthetic with a mainstream audience. But where Moonrise was awash with wistful nostalgia in its take on adolescence, romance and scouting, Anderson’s latest mines its period setting in service of a broadly comical tale which enjoys frequent diversions into both black and off-colour humour even as a body count amasses and the Second World War threatens to intrude on the borders of the titular hotel’s fictitious homeland.
Variety
pressA captivating 1930s-set caper… offers a vibrant and imaginative evocation of a bygone era.
Total Film
pressLike the eye-catching cakes Agatha makes, Anderson’s eighth feature has a heft beneath its icing, heart behind its artifice. Check in, and you won’t want to leave.
Time Out
pressThere’s nothing like the glow of a truly great film—and this could be Wes Anderson’s keeper—to trigger some niggling reservations.
The New York Times
pressI found myself not only charmed and touched but also moved to a new level of respect.
The Guardian
pressA nimblefooted, witty piece, but one also imbued with a premonitory sadness at the coming conflagration [World War II].
Hollywood Reporter
pressAn idiosyncratic period comedy that will delight connoisseurs more than the wide public.
Empire Magazine
pressAnother meticulously stylish and deadpan Wes Anderson movie that walks the fine line between masterpiece and folly.
The Grand Budapest is Grand
This is a typical Wes Anderson movie with a dreamy wardrobe, beautiful actors and fantastic sets. From the props to the way each shot filters into another, this movie is pure genius. It starts off a little slow but once the story gets going, there's not much to top this movie. All of the characters are well thought out as is normal for an Anderson movie,...
Idiosyncratic Brilliance
I think we can all agree that Wes Anderson’s films are, of themselves, their own genre. Comedy, drama, crime, adventure. These are all genres one could label The Grand Budapest Hotel, but I think simply saying “It’s a Wes Anderson film”, sums it up quite well. Ralph Fiennes plays Monsieur Gustave H., the oddball concierge of the Hotel. When he is not...
Fun but frenetic as Wes scales the peak.
Wes Anderson seems to have reached his zenith with this. I doubt if he can go any further with this extreme Victorian theatrical styling. Visually gorgeous but somewhat jarring as we race through a fairly simple story made to feel complex. The usual suspects pop in and out in cameos of varying length, the painted and cutout backdrops are in abundance and...
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Typically stylish and incredibly funny. Wes Anderson's idiosyncratic screwball comedy, The Grand Budapest Hotel is a blast. The story starts with F. Murray Abraham telling Jude Law his adventures as the Grand Budapest lobby boy. Ralph Fiennes plays Monsieur Gustave, the charming owner of the Grand Budapest Hotel. He seduces the elder female guests of the...
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