A Grand Adventure

Rating: Null/10 (8 February 2014)

Wes Anderson is one of the most original film makers working today. None of his films can be categorized into any particular genre. His latest, The Grand Budapest Hotel, which opened the Berlin Film Festival, continues that trend. It is a tale within a tale within another tale. Whilst every shot has been meticulously arranged as though a work of Art hanging in a museum, story wise Anderson has let his imagination run wild. Though the tale (with Tom Wilkinson as the author of the story) and the tale within the tale (with Jude Law as the young author & F Murray Abraham as the mysterious owner of THe Grand Budapest Hotel) have straightforward narratives, the tale within the tale within the tale, which comprises the bulk of the film and is set in the years preceding the Second World War, is a wild uproarious train ride of story telling. It also boasts the cast of a life time: Ralph Fiennes, Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson & countless cameos. It will delight Anderson fans but is more likely destined for Art house cinemas as it is too off center for mainstream audiences. The production design and music are outstanding and even the end credits are imaginatively done (and received another ovation from the audience).