The Grand Budapest Hotel is a story within a story within a story within a story. It opens on a young girl visiting a statue of an author, and opening the book The Grand Budapest Hotel. We zoom back in time to the 80s to meet that author (Tom Wilkinson), who tells us of the provenance of his story, while trying to deal with the ruckus that comes with having a young son. We then go back to 1968, where that same author (now played by Jude Law) is staying at the Grand Budapest Hotel, and meets its mysterious owner, Zero Moustafa (F. Murray Abraham). Moustafa tells the writer his tale, which takes us back to 1932, where the young Zero (Tony Revolori) is the new lobby boy at the hotel, working under the concierge M. Gustave (Ralph Fiennes).
This might sound complicated, but it isn’t. This journey into metafiction only takes up the opening minutes of the movie. Once we reach the deepest level, with M. Gustave and his attempt to foil the greedy heirs of a beloved guest of the hotel, the film barely looks back. The film seems to take us through this journey mainly to gradually introduce the layers of whimsy that will soon fill the screen. From a cold, stark present, it welcomes us gradually into more colorful worlds, the design growing more intricate as we dive deeper into the fiction.
The film is a real caper. It involves a daring theft, a prison break, secret meetings, betrayals, a ski chase, and a bunch of other fanciful elements appropriate to the plot. But plot here takes a back seat to form. While it is a perfectly good story, what will really astound audiences is the amount of detail that goes into every single frame of the film. There is a not a hair out of place, every single object in each frame clearly part of some grander design. It is utterly marvelous to behold, with each symmetrical frame filled with the details of a time and place long gone. Through these objects, the film tells a story beyond the story, one that explores the artifice of civilization.
The Grand Budapest, after all, isn’t reflective of the world outside its doors. It is a gaudy pink oasis in the middle of a mountain in a country about to go to war. The people that stay in it can be venal and greedy and capable of terrible things. But the hotel and its staff seem to represent a strange ideal of humanity, one where civility is the highest law. The film itself is an argument for such a vision. It makes it artifice visible at all times, never letting the audience forget that none of it is particularly real. But it invites them to join in its illusion for just a little bit, to forget the world outside and embrace this carefully constructed world of idealized civilization.
Ralph Fiennes is a delight as M. Gustave. Like the rest of the movie, Fiennes doesn’t settle for simply exhibiting a genteel façade. There is a certain ugliness to the character, a hint of something darker lurking beneath the pressed exterior. Fiennes isn’t afraid to let it show. Tony Revolori proves to be an interesting foil to Fiennes, matching the actor step for step while still maintaining a distinct sense of self. An all star supporting cast provides an endless well of thespic pleasures. Nothing can really go wrong when your minor are filled by the likes of Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, and Edward Norton.
It is likely impossible to watch The Grand Budapest Hotel without grinning the whole way through. Even if you don’t connect to its themes or enjoy its story, the world that it lays out for the viewer is so full of life and humor that the smile becomes inevitable. And the craft of it all is entirely astounding. If nothing else, one ought to appreciate the attention to detail that defines the design of this picture. This level of craftsmanship ensures that even in its smallest moments, the film is a thorough joy to watch.
My Rating:
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NOTE: "The Grand Budapest Hotel" will be shown exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas nationwide starting April 19, 2014 (Black Saturday).