The Grand Budapest Hotel

A Comparative Study
The Grand Budapest Hotel is a 2014 film created by idiosyncratic director Wes
Anderson. The film is loosely inspired by the literature of early 20th century
Austrian writer Stefan Zweig. Director and co-writer Anderson had never even
heard of Zweig until about seven years prior to the film’s release, when a chance
purchase of Zweig’s novel Beware of Pity inspired him to adapt his own version.
The result was his most commercially successful film to date. In addition to being
a minor box office hit, The Grand Budapest Hotel tied with Birdman for the most
Oscar nominations in 2015 and ended up winning 4 awards, for Best Costume
Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Production Design, and Best Original
Score.
As for Zweig’s contribution to the film, Anderson admits it was more of a “sense”
of Zweig's writing than any direct link to the writer’s works. Among those
“senses” is the correlation between the narrative’s indictment of Nazi brutality and
Zweig’s own courageous stand against the rise of fascism. The vague atmosphere
of sadness which somehow manages to pervade throughout what is, on the surface,
a very joyous comedic narrative can perhaps be attributed to the influence of
Zweig as well: the author committed suicide in exile in Brazil in 1941, at the
height of the fear that Hitler might just succeed in taking over the world.
Audiences and critics alike loved The Grand Budapest Hotel. A.O. Scott of The
New York Times wrote of the film, "This movie makes a marvelous mockery of
history, turning its horrors into a series of graceful jokes and mischievous gestures.
You can call this escapism if you like. You can also think of it as revenge."
We see a teenage girl approaching a statue of a man labeled simply, “Author.” We
then cut to the Author himself as he begins to share a story about his trip to The
Grand Budapest Hotel many years ago. We see the younger version of the Author
staying at the hotel years earlier. It is here he meets the owner of the establishment,
Mr. Zero Moustafa, who tells the author he enjoys his writing and invites him to
dinner to share his story of how he came to own the hotel.
At dinner, we flash back in time to 1932 when The Grand Budapest Hotel was
flourishing. Gustave, the hotel’s meticulous and highly competent concierge, has a
habit of sleeping with wealthy older guests of the hotel and is currently carrying on
an affair with Madame D., a wealthy dowager countess in her 80s.
Shortly after Madame D.'s visit, Gustave learns that she has died. He and the new
lobby boy, Zero who is the younger version of Mr. Moustafa, go to Madame D.s
home in order to pay their respects. There they find her kids, extended family, and
lawyer, Mr. Kovacs, waiting to hear the reading of the countess' will. Kovacs
announces only one detail; that Madame has left Gustave a priceless painting, Boy
With Apple. Madame D.’s son, Dmitri demands that Gustave be arrested. Gustave
and Zero quickly leave, but not before they steal the painting off the wall and hide
it for safekeeping at the hotel.

Once back at the Grand Budapest, Gustave is arrested for the murder of Madame
D. While in prison he becomes friends with inmates and plans an escape. He has
Zero place digging tools inside pastries that Zero's girlfriend, Agatha, bakes for
him. Gustave and the other men are able to dig their way out and part ways. Zero
and Gustave make their way back to the Grand Budapest with the help of the
Society of the Crossed Keys, a group of concierges that call in favors to assist each
other.
Gustave, Zero, and Agatha arrive back at the Grand Budapest to find it has been
taken over by the country’s army; war has broken out. Agatha sneaks in to retrieve
Boy With Apple, so they can sell it and hide away. Just as she comes out with the
painting, however, Dmitri enters the hotel and spots her with the painting. Gustave
and Zero go inside to save her as she tries to escape from Dmitri. Dmitri opens fire
on them and a gun battle erupts involving all of the soldiers staying in the hotel.
Agatha’s attempt to escape leaves her and Zero hanging from the balcony of one of
the rooms before they fall into a car full of pastries, which break their fall.
Agatha discovers a note hidden on the back of the painting that states that if
Madame D.’s death was caused by murder, she is leaving everything to Gustave.
Gustave becomes one of the wealthiest men in the country, and the owner of The
Grand Budapest Hotel. While journeying by train, he, Zero, and Agatha are
stopped by the army’s death troops who tear up Zero’s identification papers (he is
a refugee). Gustave begins to fight the men and is shot dead.
Zero is Gustave’s only heir to his fortune, and this is how he inherited his great
wealth, but also the reason why he traded all of his commodities for The Grand
Budapest, which is now a struggling property as it holds all the memories of his
time with Gustave and his relationship to Agatha.
The Author then turns this story into a book, which the young girl from the
beginning of the film loves. We see her sitting on a bench beside the statue of the
Author as the film closes.

Director's Influence on The Grand Budapest Hotel

Wes Anderson has a very particular style in all of his films, recognizable to most
for their quirkiness and carefully-curated aesthetic touches. The most marked
feature of Anderson's films is his use of symmetrical framing, a style of
composition that is very visually pleasing, in that one side of the frame matches the
other side of the frame. The Grand Budapest Hotel is shot in this way and gives the
film a feeling that the events are somehow heightened, almost like the unfolding of
a dream. Anderson's touch gives his films a self-consciously cinematic quality,
turning them into fairy tales of sorts.
With this film, Anderson undertook some retro methods in the filming process. For
instance, he uses miniature models for wide shots of the hotel, an old cinema trick
used to create a place without actually having to go on location to film it. Anderson
borrows from methods from a bygone cinema in order to create something fresh
and unique.
Additionally, Anderson has a part in writing the screenplays for all of his films,
further cementing his status as a contemporary auteur, and lending his films (this
one included) a particularly comedic bent. Anderson’s dialogue, rhythm, camera
moves and editing style creates a near unmistakable tone, at once deadpan and
lighthearted. He finds the humor in the mundane elements of life and during
moments of crisis. An example of Anderson's quirky sense of humor is the scene in
which Gustave speaks to the police who are at The Grand Budapest to arrest him.
He goes through their conversation in a courteous way and seems ready and
willing to go with them, when suddenly he turns and sprints off. Anderson leaves
the camera where it is and allows the action to unfold, thus the frame goes from a
medium shot to a long shot of the police chasing Gustave up flights of stairs to
apprehend him. It’s simple, but the technique teases out the humor of the moment.

Finally, Anderson carefully chooses his color palettes for every scene. He allows
for dull colors to pop as they stand within a frame where the surrounding colors
compliment one another. This goes from the color of the actor’s wardrobes to the
carpeting and detail on the walls. Thus, production and costume design are highly
important to his storytelling. In fact, the film ended up winning Oscars for both
production and costume design. Every frame contributes to the general tone of the
film. The viewer, in turn, experiences the richness of Anderson's storytelling,
journeying with his characters into a highly specific and deliberate world of color.