From a Wes Anderson 'newbie': Wow.

Rating: 10/10 (11 April 2014)

Wow. Welcome to the world of Wes Anderson, step inside...
The best way to describe this film, in a word, is surreal. I'm guessing this may be a theme of Anderson films, having done a little reading. But what made this movie great for me wasn't the cast, albeit colourful and masterfully done from top to bottom (Willem Dafoe's character was my favourite, although it is hard to make such a choice). It was the combination of a comedy-adventure being set in such a surreal and absurd world; that was what made it click perfectly, and instantly.
Take for instance one of the first scenes: A man's face is atop a memorial statue of some kind (or his grave?), and below his head hang many keys on hooks, hotel room keys I assume.
HUH??!
I was hooked from then on. Perhaps the best part was the desperate phone call made to the 'Society of Crossed Keys', hilarious, absurd, yet somehow relevant all at once. It is very hard to pick a favourite part when it comes to a film like this though, as everything worked, and what I thought was going to be a two-plus hour movie, considering the breadth (or depth?) of the story, wasn't overlong in the slightest, further enriching this adventure with the perfect tempo.
To make things even better; in this bizarre, surreal and comical world, a long and hilarious adventure unfolds; further, and further, and further, seemingly getting more ridiculous as it goes. This could have pushed the film over the edge, but because each character was so memorable, each scene crazier than the last, I couldn't stop leaning forward. I feel like I have just gotten off a wild, hilarious roller-coaster that was filled with so many unique and memorable characters, so many funny scenes (done in many different styles of humour might I add), that I can't stop smiling and laughing to myself as I type this. 'The Wolf on Wall Street' was hilarious, truly great. But the surreal setting here made the comic element of the film just perfect. In that regard it reminded me a little of 'The Vampire Killers'. While that is a classic film, 'Grand Budapest' is one of the best films I have ever been lucky enough to watch.
I must give this film a ten. Never has a film lingered with me in such a way. 2001 is the only other film where I could say, I feel this is perfect, and that is how I feel about this film. I could hear the conversations and laughter as soon as the credits rolled, everybody seemingly waiting for even more absurdity to jump from the credits. And after speaking to some of my fellow patrons, it seems I wasn't alone in my opinion. So not only do I now have a filmography to check-out, I must decide if I can wait long enough for DVD-release to see this again! I really could go on and on about how brilliant this film is, but it would turn into a thesis. Quite simply, every scene and every character was unique, eccentric and thoroughly memorable. It was that good. I cannot envision a film topping this one for some time... but I certainly would love to be proved wrong!
10/10