the very best of Wes Anderson

Rating: 8/10 (18 March 2018)

Wes Anderson is a master at using limited, but powerful color palettes, fast, witty dialogue, and character driven plots to create beautiful worlds with beautiful stories. He has never done better than The Grand Budapest Hotel.
The Grand Budapest follows the adventure of M. Gustave (Ralph Fiennes) and his lobby boy, Zero (Tony Revolori) as they "steal" a priceless painting and try to find the missing second will of Madame D. (Tilda Swinton). We are told the story through the perspective of the Author (Jude Law) who is told the story through the perspective of Mr. Moustafa (F. Murray Abraham). The film is rounded out with Anderson's usual cast of unusual characters; Bob Balaban, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Harvey Keitel, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Jason Schwartzman, and Owen Wilson with one time collaborator Saoirse Ronan.
The film's pastel palette adds to the visual look with the bright pinks and reds of the hotel at its peak in the 30s and the muted oranges and greens of the hotel well passed its prime in the 60s. The comedic one-liners of M. Gustave parallel the more somber tones of Mr. Moustafa to combine to make a script that is sure to make you laugh and maybe even make you tear up at the end. The movie would not be complete without the beautiful score created by Alexandre Desplat which includes fast pace guitar with slow piano playing that add to the tones of both the 30s and 60s timelines.