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Director Wes Anderson is known for his films that are rendered by eccentric cinematography, handsome but outlandish settings, compelling soundtracks, tragic comedy, and star-studded casts that play deeply flawed but relatable characters. Through the use of impressively detailed miniatures, symmetrical compositions, dull yet equally striking color palettes, and flat-space, snap-zooms, and slow-motion camera movements, Anderson crafts a uniquely eye-catching directing style to tell emotive stories about the muddled complexities of human nature. But if you are new to Wes Anderson, this unconventional way of movie-making may be a bit hard to follow. His scenes are quick-paced and the intellectually crude dialogue is quick-witted, so make sure you have your subtitles switched on!
Watch ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ First to Understand Wes Anderson
The Grand Budapest Hotel is a good place to start your venture into the Wes Anderson film library. The film was released in 2014, marking the 20th anniversary of Anderson’s film-making career debut. By 2014, Anderson was already a widely respected and innovative director, but The Grand Budapest Hotel revealed how perfectly he had honed his quirky craft. The film shines a light on the life of Monsieur Gustave (Ralph Fiennes) and his protégé Zero (Tony Revolori), who both work at the esteemed Grand Budapest Hotel. That is until Monsieur Gustave is accused of murder. The consequences of this accusation set off a chain reaction that trickles through an assorted ensemble of characters who are either motivated by fear, betrayal, jealousy, love, or loyalty. Monsieur Gustave and Zero, however, embark on a journey for justice, and their ensuing partnership is arguably the heart of the entire movie.
Wes Anderson Is a Master of Characterization
Ultimately, it is the characters and the forging of friendships in Wes Anderson’s movies that really make his stories great. You can only go so far as to make something quirky and unconventional before it loses its magic because there is nothing for the audience to resonate with. But in the foreground of these intricate miniatures and enriching colorful settings, are characters that are indeed questionable, amusing, and flawed, but undoubtedly relatable because they are the archetypes of the shared human experience. They represent what we inherently desire and fear, they represent our loneliness, hope, youth, successes, and failures, and our confusion about what it means to live in this crazy world because these characters’ worlds are just as crazy. But in between all the madness, the process of losing and finding brings a little bit of hope. It does for Zero anyway, who loses his entire family and becomes a refugee, until he becomes the lobby boy for the Grand Budapest, finds a new friendship in Monsieur Gustave, and finds love in the Grand Budapest’s pastry chef, Agatha (Saoirse Ronan).
The sad comedic nature of The Grand Budapest Hotel, and perhaps all of Wes Anderson’s films, is Anderson’s portrayal of truth, which is mostly engineered by clever dialogue like this quote from Monsieur Gustave: “You see, there are still faint glimmers of civilization left in this barbaric slaughterhouse that was once known as humanity. Indeed, that’s what we provide in our own modest, humble, insignificant… Oh, fuck it.” It is a pleasure to watch Ralph Fiennes, who contours his performances with intentional mannerisms borne from a theatrical background, and who articulates his lines with a lyricism that dallies between seriousness and utter mockery of himself.
But this quote really speaks to Anderson’s depiction of truth: as his characters linger between hope and cynicism, love and hatred, revenge and forgiveness, it is not to say they should pick a side and stick with it, it is more about understanding and accepting that going back and forth between these things is inevitable. The important thing is to accept this reality. And then the even more important thing is to never give up. Anderson’s hero-type characters are always being challenged, but they are always persevering too — not necessarily out of duty, but because they accept the fact that life goes on and there is hope in the inevitability of tomorrow. Despite his high intellect and extensive life experience, Monsieur Gustave knows that he is not all-knowing, he is a human who has made mistakes and will continue to do so. But he also became a faint glimmer of hope in the barbaric slaughterhouse of Zero’s life, and that kind of glimmer leaves a lasting impression.
So, if you are looking to be entranced by the physicality of a film, but to also be inspired by its story, then The Grand Budapest Hotel is for you. And if you finish your watch a little teary-eyed and feeling light with inspiration, then jump down the Wes Anderson rabbit hole where you can be sure to find more movie magic made up of dreamlike worlds and complex characters who seek to add a little flavor to the mundanity of their lives.
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