Well, Wes Anderson has done it again. For those who were charmed by the movie Moonrise Kingdom, there is now another film that equally delights while urging one to think just a little more deeply about what life is all about.
All one has to do to achieve such wisdom (besides seeing the film) is check into The Grand Budapest Hotel and embrace the wisdom of Monsieur Gustave, concierge extraordinaire.
The film reveals through flashbacks the story of Zero Moustafa, the lobby boy (played by the newcomer Tony Revolori) as he learns about hotel protocol, poetry, courage and how one lives a life of meaning – all taught, of course, by Monsieur Gustave.
Ralph Fiennes plays the central character, Monsieur Gustave, with humor, style and a view of life crafted by years of perceptively watching the rich and famous come and go. It is an overview so accurately presented that anyone within the Hospitality Industry will adore the humorous but honest insights on life and service that this film presents in scene after scene.
The famed set designer, Adam Stockhausen, skillfully caught the feel what a legendary hotel must be when he converted the cavernous former Görlitzer Warenhaus Department Store building in Görlitz, Germany into the Grand Budapest Hotel during its grand (and not so grand days). In keeping with the storybook-feel of years gone by, he also created a miniature model of the exterior at the Studio Babelsberg, near Berlin.
There’s death, romance, jeweled guests, theft, running up and down the stairs, fabulous pastries, keys, cocktails - in short just another day at a grand hotel, all handled with a clarity of style that defines the very heart of our Industry.
