A fantastic movie of loyalty

Rating: 10/10 (12 December 2019)

The Grand Budapest Hotel is a fantastic movie filled with adventure, action, mystery and love. The movie focuses around two main characters M. Gustave (Ralph Fiennes) and his lobby boy Zero Moustafe (Tony Revolori) and their adventures together and how they solved their problem. While watching the movie you may notice that the key theme through-out the film is loyalty. Wes Anderson (The Director) did an amazing job capturing this theme and presenting it in such a fun and entertaining way with his choice on angles and lighting.
While watching the movie unfold you cannot help but notice the lack of space on screen. Wes Anderson makes sure, in an intentional way, that everything on screen is being used and applied to the whole story of the movie. If you a seeing something happen in the background it is because Wes Anderson wants you to see and notice the event. The angles of The Grand Budapest are rather simple and straight forward but, executed in a brilliant way that does not interfere with the film or distract the viewer with too much. Most of the scenes are filmed head on to Gustave and Zero hiding most of the background or focusing on the main points of the story but, some scenes like the jail break scene intentionally use a different angle to show what is happening. It does not pull from the story it does not ruin the scene and it is fairly subtle and that is the genius of the angles in the movie. As for applying this technique to the theme of loyalty it is done with quite skill. Using the head on filming just the two Gustave and Zero it really helps build their bond for the viewer. We get to see them from the beginning where Gustave does not trust Zero as much it is filmed showing mostly their whole bodies. When we realize the theme of loyalty is when the film is showing the two closer together and more of their upper bodies and faces. That is really when we the viewer become engulfed in the fact that Zero would do anything for Gustave and vise-versa.
The Grand Budapest is filmed with a unique lighting that helps us the viewer know what to feel. At the beginning of film it hotel is dark and almost has a sad fog in it but, when Mr. Mustafe (F. Murray Abraham) is recollecting his journey with M. Gustave the hotel is very well lit and has a joyous feel to it. This lighting technique is used in practically every scene, if we are supposed to feel sad or disappointed then Wes Anderson made sure that the scene was darker and gloomier. This technique can also help enforce the theme in a simplistic but, very well done way: when Gustave and Zero are together the scene is brighter more happy feeling and when they are separated it is darker and gloomier. Eventually, Agatha (Saoirse Ronan) is introduced and she becomes loyal to Zero and when they are together the scene is brighter as well. Ralph Fiennes is no stranger to the lighting technique and a theme of loyalty. However, he is known for the dark lighting playing the bad guy, Lord Voldemort, in what could be his most famous movies; the Harry Potter films. The Harry Potter films share a common lighting style of darkness is sad and light means happiness the films also have a loyalty theme through-out all of them.