The Grand Budapest Hotel

An excellent, quirky movie, that has comedy, suspense beautiful scenery and very interesting characters. A walk through time for the people and places it touches. Funny, loving, nostalgic one of a kind, never boring movie. Superb acting and a cast that is first class. More for adults. If you travel, or just armchair travel, this movie is for you. You may have to watch this a few times to get every nuance of the film and characters and how they interact. Five stars. One of my most favorite films.

Deliciously delightful. Rich and qwerky. The humor is deep and smooth. The story line is twisty and tasty like a shopping mall pretzel. The ensemble cast absolutely shines with interesting and off-beat portrayals. I saw this movie several years ago and have been yearning for a copy ever since. It did not disappoint. Thoroughly enjoyable. One can tell that actors had a blast making it and it shows. Get yourself a copy. It is a real hoot! 782 stars!

The Grand Budapest Hotel, directed by Wes Anderson is chock full of Hollywood A-listers in both cameo and substantial roles and with Anderson at the helm, the result is a film so quirky and brilliant that you’ll want to see it more than once. The Grand Budapest Hotel is Anderson’s best film to date, a wry, exceptionally well-structured 5-act Shakespearean dramedy. If you liked any of Anderson’s prior movies, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Royal Tenenbaums, or The Darjeeling Limited, to name a few, then The Grand Budapest Hotel will satisfy you in a way that these previous gems just narrowly missed. First there’s the superb M. Gustave (Ralph Fiennes), impeccably dressed with such dizzying attention to detail that Coco Chanel would be jealous. Gustave runs the GBH, set amid a coniferous-lined mountainside, always gorgeously blanketed with a light dusting of snow, so breathtakingly beautiful it looks like CGI. Anderson used more than one locale for the filming to get just the right feel for the distinguished and sumptuous backdrop to the movie. At the GBH, Gustave not only runs a tight, elegantly appointed ship, he has a cadre of patrons, all older, almost all female, who return to the GBH to partake of the amenities that only M. Gustave can provide. The young Zero Moustafa (Tony Revolori), so called, he says, because after losing his family and home in the war -- the movie is sandwiched between the first and second World Wars -- he is nothing and has no one. Zero is hired by M. Gustave to maintain a specific role at the hotel, the actual description of which is unclear for while Gustave has a list of “don’ts”, it seems the lobby boy’s biggest “do” is to be Gustave’s personal assistant. Throughout the movie, we see Zero’s allegiance to Gustave unfold and grow in a variety of wry and often hilarious ways. The entire story is told in flashback by the enigmatic owner of the hotel, a much older Zero (F. Murray Abraham), to the Young Writer (Jude Law), who is a patron of the current GBH. With it’s halcyon days behind it, a skeleton crew running it, and very few guests, the GBH is still going, maybe not strong, but going. Abraham invites Law to join him for dinner and over many courses, unravels the beguiling history behind the hotel. After one of Gustave’s favored patrons, Madame D. (a sublime Tilda Swinton) is murdered, Gustave travels to Madame D’s side because, “she needs me,” meaning, he needs to make sure 1) she looks good and 2) to find out whether she left him a little something in her will. At the reading, the lawyer, Deputy Kovacs (Jeff Goldblum) announces to the family that Madame D. has left Gustave the priceless painting, “Boy With Apple” which, according to Gustave, they had admired together many times. Chaos ensues as the heirs, led by Madame D’s son, Dmitri (Adrien Brody) along with his henchman, Jopling (Willem Dafoe), try to reclaim what they believe is rightfully the family’s. The film is full of fabulously quirky observations such as when Gustave views the dead body of Madame D, examines her nail polish and expresses approval for the new color because even in death, style and elegance are paramount. My favorite line in the movie is Gustave’s, spoken during a moment when he and the Lobby Boy are trying to puzzle out the mystery behind the dilemma Gustave finds himself in: “The plot thickens, as they say. Why, by the way? Is it a soup metaphor?” I absolutely will not tell you what mess they are in as the film is all to methodical to spoil, but I will say that I frequently laughed out loud throughout the movie. Anderson’s usual themes of abandonment, trouble with authority, and overarching loyalty in the face of adversity are all present. The cast goes on and on: Harvey Keitel, Ed Norton, Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, and a host of others makes this film feel like summer camp for A-Listers The Grand Budapest Hotel is not for everyone. My mother thought it was weird, but she’s 80 and subtle, facetious humor is often lost on her. Me, I thought it was brilliant.

I always avoided watching this movie because I didn't like the cover or the trailer. It looked really boring to me and I also had no idea what it was about. Since then, I saw Fantastic Mr Fox which I picked up because I like stop motion animation - I didn't think it would be as good as a Disney movie, but I was intrigued by the characters and the attention to detail. Since then, I have rewatched that movie multiple times analyzing and studying it - and it clicked. I like this weird, quirky sort of style. So I finally watched this movie. I'm late to the party, but I really enjoyed this one. It has an interesting story, it has comedy, it has drama, it has visually appealing sets that aren't all live-action. I like the quirky humor and the dialogue. This movie may not be best suited for the younger audience - it has references to sex, death, and murder. But bits of comedy and cheerful pastries and pink boxes are strewn about to keep the movie light and entertaining. Of the Wes Anderson films, I still like Fantastic Mr Fox best, followed by Grand Budapest Hotel, then Darjeeling Limited, Isle of Dogs, and Moonrise Kingdom.

They use three different aspect ratios in order to communicate which decade the movie is in ('30s, '60s, '90s) because apparently the audience is too dumb to notice DECADES of aging in the characters, or to infer it from even half-heartedly following the plot. Instead, it's thrown in our faces, constantly and unnecessarily. I managed to tune it out some of the time, but whenever I regrettably became aware of it, the first impression would be - and I'm not making this up - that I was looking at a made-for-TV movie from the '90s. I'm sure this decision will make film school people use terms like "breathtaking" and "a cinematic tour-de-force" or whatever sycophantic nonsense is popular today. I just find it jarring, pretentious and stupid, like Wes Anderson is playing down to an audience that can't remember the context of the scene for more than five seconds. Wes, the same short-term memory that lets me follow the plot AT ALL also allows me to pick up on the countless clues as to which decade we're in. People like 16:9 because it communicates more of the little things that hang out at the edge of the senses, the ambiance and so forth, allows us to appreciate more of the scene the characters are in rather than feeling like we're spying through a keyhole, etc. How many people do you see complaining about how lame widescreen displays are? What's the ratio of 4:3 to 16:9 displays being sold today, 0.001 or so? (Turns out there's a reason for that!) That aside, the movie is fantastic. The acting is engaging, the characters are amusing, there are cameos ALL THE TIME, and I never found myself wishing they'd pick up the pace. There is good attention to detail, and everything shows the appearance of having been very well put together. There is no schlock, no "descending bass noise" from dubstep, no one scene with 138 cuts, no crappy "edgy, deliberately bad" camera work. It has the feel of an older movie, from back in the days when they shot complex scenes all in one take. I will say that the colors - particularly woodstains - weren't quite as rich as I've seen in some films, but this is minor. I wouldn't take off a star for it. In fact, if not for the unnecessary 4:3 aspect ratio, I'd give it five stars without hesitation. I'm happy to have watched it and I recommend it.

The Brothers have another masterpiece with this movie. Like “Oh Bro” , “Aquatic”and “Royal Ts”, I find that these movies are totally engrossing and I watch captivated, finding myself wishing the story would go on when the credits roll. Maybe it’s my age, education, or odd interests that attract me to these films. Once upon a time, guys my age watched Jacque Cousteau and Wild Kingdom each and every time it came on TV, even if we had seen the episode twenty two times. In the dim and vinyl saturated living rooms of the 1970s , we would watch unblinkingly watch as Marlin Perkins told Jim to wrestle that charging Rhino to the ground or as the crew of the Calypso fought tiger sharks in the morning, found pirate treasure in the sea bottom after lunch and watched the sunset, smoked Sherlock Holmes looking piped and drink red wine, toasting the events of the day hugged up with some knockout 1970s ladies on some exotic Mediterranean island that doesn’t even appear on maps. We saw our moms reading those “How to Raise a Gifted Child” books, imaged the cool trendsetter lives of the intelligentsia in the waning days of the free 1960s, and at ,one point or another, imagined busting out of a chain gang during the Great Depression and taking up hobo life until musical talent made us rich and famous.....how could we not LOVE these movies?!? Although pre-WW2 Eastern Europe was not as personally relatable as some venues, it didn’t stop me from diving head first into that unique universe and enjoying the film to the maximum.....almost as a temporary (and imaginary) honorary citizen of Z Land. These guys have figured out the magic formula to make fantastically good motion pictures with each and every attempt....great story + unique setting x superb acting talent (doing it more for enjoyment of acting, character development and to tell a great story rather than solely for the $25 million paycheck). For those who have not seen it, I don’t want to spoil the movie by discussing any of the plot. For those that have seen it, you already know....GRADE = AAA

One of MY favourites.

Outstandingly witty, nostalgic movie. Wes Anderson is highly educated and uses his knowledge to produce quirky, movies that seem nonsensical on the surface, while making intelligent, social and political commentary about European grandeur. I saw this movie in the cinema when it first came out, and twice more online. Excellent acting, impeccable direction and dreamy settings. I happened to have lunch at the Hotel Locarno in Rome, where Wes Anderson used to stay and wrote the script for this movie. I could see how this hotel could have inspired him, even though it was nothing like the Grand Budapest..

“It is nice to see that Wes Anderson” gives us a twenty-fist century movie, that feels like the old, but good, “Charlie Chaplin” movies of yesteryear, like the scene of the jail door, you see the door then it shift to the smaller door, this was so brilliant, even the motorcycle chase was hilarious, can’t forget the sleds, skis, and trains, how many more ways can they disguise “Tilda Swinton” the woman is that good, (Snowpiercer) “The Grand Budapest Hotel” is probable Wes Anderson best to date, it’s like he took a whole lot of scenes from movies an made one, that’s so funny, it’s down right funnier than Fun, the jail break, chipping away with little knife and spoons, (Shawshank Redemption) the pulling of the trolley car with the chain, I just love this, right down to Adrien Brody” (Dmitri) the look of anger on his face is priceless, and then we have “Willem Dafoe” how in the hell can you go wrong, see what I said about paintings, it’s a deadly hobby to pick up, but (Gustave) Ralph Fiennes” was at is best, “Harvey Keitel” I don’t know how many more times I can love this guy, the guy is something else, even in his smallest role he’s good, with the slap to the face of “Tony Revolori” (Zero) before he leaves, I just can’t help myself I absolutely love it, word of note, it tells you to leave your screen at 16x9, because it’s in Widescreen 2.40:1 Not The 1.85:1 that’s on the back cover of this case, then it changes to 4.3. it goes back an forth, but stays in 4.3 most of the time, Runtime 100 Min. English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. Someone Said Anderson’s Films Are Too Precious For Some. I Concur.

I have always loved this movie

No sé qué version les llegó a algunos, pero a mí fue precisamente la de la foto del artículo, es decir la importada lanzada el 17 de Junio del 2014, lo digo porque sí viene doblaje español latino, soy de México, de hecho el europeo no figura, y eso que maneja varios doblajes que no se mencionan en la parte trasera de la caja, estaba resignado entonces a tratar de disfrutarla como viniera y mi sorpresa fue mucha =) lo curioso es que en la cartulina del código de descarga digital aparece el año 2021 Movies Anywhere, en fin. Llegó sin slipcover aunque la verdad ni lo esperaba. 5 estrellas.

C'est un film complètement à part. Un conte drolatique et fantastique mélant humour noir et situations absurdes. J'ai acheté la vidéo pour pouvoir prendre le temps d'apprécier l'esthétique exceptionnelle des décors et de la mise en scène. Qu'on aime ou pas Wes Anderson, il a réalisé là un petit chef d'oeuvre. Chaque scène est littéralement un tableau animé. De ce point de vue, "The Grand Budapest Hôtel" est à comparer au "Casanova de Fellini", au "Portrait de la Jeune fille en feu" de Céline Siamma, à "Danish Girl" de Tom Hooper, aux premiers films de Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Prenez le temps de voir et surtout revoir encore et encore ce film drôle, ce drôle de film.

So weit würde ich freilich nicht gehen, aber es werden immerhin manchmal noch ausgezeichnete Filme gemacht in dem Barbaric Laughterhouse, das einst als Filmindustrie bekannt war. Man muß sie eben nur suchen und kann dabei auch nach den Namen der Regisseure gehen: Wes Anderson jedenfalls ist einer derer, die sich dem Mainstream bislang entzogen und die es auch heute noch schaffen, mit subtilen Mitteln und manchmal auch grellen Farben Poesie visuell werden zu lassen. So auch in „The Grand Budapest Hotel“ (2014), in dem auf mehreren Zeitebenen – mit den dazugehörigen Bildformaten – die unterschiedlichsten Genres munter durcheinandergewürfelt werden und Tragik und Komik einander maßvoll die Waage halten. Einem namentlich ungenannten Autoren (Tom Wilkinson / Jude Law) erzählt der altgewordene Hotelbesitzer Mr. Moustafa (F. Murray Abraham) seine Lebensgeschichte, insbesondere aber davon, wie er als einfacher Lobbyboy Zéro (Tony Revolori) durch M. Gustave (Ralph Fiennes) in den Dienst des Grand Budapest Hotels, das in dem fiktiven osteuropäischen Staat Zubrowka liegt, genommen wurde. M. Gustave versteht es, durch seine Kultiviertheit und seine Diplomatie alle Gäste für das Hotel einzunehmen, nicht zuletzt wohl die Legion reicherer älterer Damen, mit denen er auch schläft. Eine dieser Damen, die Gräfin D. (Tilda Swinton), ist am Tage ihrer Abreise beunruhigt von einer dunklen Vorahnung, und kurz darauf steht in der Zeitung die Nachricht ihres plötzlichen Ablebens. M. Gustave und Zéro machen sich unversehens auf zum Schloß Lutz, dem Wohnsitz der Gräfin, wo ihre habgierige Verwandtschaft bereits auf die Vollstreckung ihres Erbes wartet – allen voran der finstere Sohn Dmitri (Adrien Brody). Als der Testamentsvollstrecker verkündet, daß M. Gustave ein kostbares Gemälde, „Jüngling mit Apfel“, erben soll, kommt es zwischen Dmitri und Gustave zu einer Auseinandersetzung, an deren Ende letzterer, mit dem gestohlenen Bild im Gepäck, das Schloß verläßt. Dmitri allerdings, der seine Mutter umgebracht hat, lenkt aus Rache den Verdacht auf seinen Widersacher, und kurze Zeit später – er hatte gerade Zeit, das Gemälde zu verstecken – sitzt M. Gustave in dem berüchtigten Gefängnis Checkpoint 19 ein. Doch mit Hilfe Zéros und seiner Freundin Agatha (Saoirse Ronan) sowie einer Gruppe Gewaltverbrecher schmiedet er einen Fluchtplan, um in die Freiheit – und leider auch in die Reichweite von Dmitris psychopathischem Faktotum Jopling (Willem Dafoe) – zu gelangen. „The Grand Budapest Hotel“ ist eine farbenprächtige, geschwinde und voltenreiche Komödie voller geschliffener Dialoge, skurriler Situationen, verwunschener Bilder und bizarrer Charaktere. Doch steckt hinter all dem Trubel auch eine gewisse Tragik, denn Ort und Zeit sind nur leicht verfremdet, so daß wir sehr leicht das Heranziehen der Bedrohung durch den Nationalsozialismus, der die letzten Reste der alten k.u.k.-Welt zerstören sollte, bemerken. Besonders die aberwitzige und sinnlose Schießerei im Hotelfoyer spiegelt den Untergang jener durch den Ersten Weltkrieg bereits in Bewegung gesetzten alten Zeiten wider. Auch M. Gustave ist ein Repräsentant dieser auf Bildung, Luxus und Etikette aufbauenden Gesellschaft, und wenn er auch ein ausgemachter und selbstsüchtiger Gauner ist, so ist er dabei doch niemals bereit, anderen Menschen nachhaltig zu schaden. Bewundernswert ist, wie sich dieser scheinbar effeminierte Mann wie ein Löwe gegenüber den Grenzkontrollen für seinen staatenlosen Adlatus ins Zeug wirft und wie mutig er den Repräsentanten militärischer Macht gegenübertritt. Über all den Alfanzereien und übermütigen Scherzen schwebt aber doch als Grundton ein dunkler Pessimismus, denn die magische Zwischenwelt von Zubrowka ist dem Untergang geweiht, und auch persönliches Glück währt nur kurze Zeit, ein Spielball großer kriegführender Mächte wie auch virenkleiner Zufälle mit tödlichen Folgen, und am Ende bleibt nur die Erinnerung sowie das Bemühen, die Orte, die diese Erinnerungen beherbergen, zu pflegen. In diesem Sinne ist „The Grand Budapest Hotel“ wehmütig-wilde Comédie humaine. Die DVD bringt den Film in den Sprachen Deutsch, Französisch und Englisch in gutem 5.1-Dolby-Digital-Ton. Das Bild ist einwandfrei, und der Bildschirm sollte auf das Seitenverhältnis 16:9 eingestellt werden, wenngleich das Format aus künstlerischen Gründen häufig wechselt.