Wes Anderson has long been known to possess an imaginative
vision. His visual motifs, intricate
mise-en-scene and inventive use of inter-titles recall a number of French New
Wave films to which he is obviously indebted.
The Grand Budapest Hotel, his latest opus, is no exception to this
rule. From the get-go, the viewer is
bathed in rich compositions, visually alluring shots and camera set-ups that
have been his trademark since his debut with Bottle Rocket.
The film stars Ralph Fiennes as M. Gustave, a concierge of
the title hotel who gets into a series of adventures accompanied by his newly
hired lobby boy named Zero. There is an
old heiress (Tilda Swinton), one of Gustave’s many elderly lovers, whose death
under mysterious circumstances results in Gustave being accused of involvement
in her murder. There is a priceless
painting that the heiress has bequeathed to Gustave. The descendants of Swinton’s character are
enraged by the last minute changes in the will of the recently deceased and
wage war and vengeance against Gustave.
There are some chase scenes throughout this film which vaults the
picture into levels of excitement that are unparalleled in recent Anderson
films, and films in general.
The majority of the film takes place in the past, in a
pre-World War II, fictitious setting that seems a hodge-podge of various
European locales. In the present-day
portion of the film, a now much older Zero played by F. Murray Abraham recounts
his adventures in the past to a writer (Jude Law). This is a deftly told story by director
Anderson and is one of his most accomplished films. It’s a visual delight that requires repeated
viewings to absorb all of the compelling eye-candy.
No comments:
Post a Comment