The Grand Budapest Hotel [DVD] [2017]

This was a film that offered the promise that is all too seldom kept; an ensemble cast , a picturesque location, a peculiar plot. Normally such films, such as those by Gilliam, fail to deliver this promise. This may have succeeded.It take place in a fictional central European state called Zubrowka, which is Polish word meaning ‘bison grass’ or ‘sweet grass’; and is also the name of a vodka, flavoured with the same . The style of the film represents an old vision of central Europe; the Austro-Hungarian uniforms, the architecture, and the sub-alpine scenery. The names are a mixture of Slavic, German, French, Italian, Yiddish and Ottoman.The story unfolds in a series of images and ideas calculated to speak of the passing of time. Nostalgia, poignancy, grief, loss, death, and destruction leave the survivors weathered and changed by the processes of time.The initial image is a monument covered with tokens of faith. The next is an old shabby hotel, with faded, dated, shabby looking furnishings, obviously imposed anachronistically over an even more ancient style of building, equally or even more shabby in the old traces of its former splendour. A vast building, it is almost empty, emphasising just how neglected it is, with its handful of solitary visitors and scarce staff. As the young author goes about, the incongruity of the outdated style of the bath house with its communal baths clashes with the faded upholstery, displaying how just how time has changed customs and habits and expectations.The narrative is about the concierge whose talent is not just to manage the front of desk for the hotel, but in particular to charm and it transpires, to seduce, wealthy dowagers, and thus ensure their faithful patronage. He reassures them of their past glories, of their remaining beauty and status, and so cultivates their affections. It is presented partly as a practical way for him to get laid, and partly as an act of altruism, of compassion to the aging, the lonely, and the insecure; of a connoisseur of humanity appreciating the finer points and subtle nuances of society. It is all consistently a work of hospitality; the perfect host putting his guests at ease, accommodating them, and showing them joy. He is the perfect host; perceptive, conscientious, discrete.The new lobby boy, Zero, turns out to be a refugee, from the killing of his family and the destruction of his village, and this pattern is repeated throughout; it is a motif that all the characters, and thus we, are like refuges from the destructions of our pasts. The Crossed Keys society of concierges therefore helps one another out in the mission to aid refugees in their flight from destruction, and their comfort in the present, and their plans for the journey ahead. The concierges are the perfect facilitators, helping, abetting, aiding, invisibly, convinced of the purpose of their unknown missions, the anonymous requests that come to them.Throughout there is this sense of purpose of people helping each other, openly or clandestinely, legally or illegally, and pervading all, the love stories; friendship, romance, marriage, comradeship, patronage, fidelity, which motivate and sustain and resource and empathise with each story of help.Human life is described a series of loves and helps, which give purpose and meaning and relish and colour to life. Without them, life dies, losing its meaning. But all these things pass, and what we are left with the memory. The wise will remember with humility, gratitude and good humour, hence the comedy, but also the aching poignancy of the film. All things pass, and we remain, for God has put eternity into our hearts, but none can understand what he has done from beginning to end.

Good movie, even though despite the name the movie was almost entirely shot in Germany.A man travels to the Grand Budapest Hotel which had once been a posh hotel, but is now rather run down and in dire need of some refurbishment. When he saves a man's life in the lobby, it proofs to be the owner of the hotel, M. Zero Moustafa. He gets invited by him for Dinner and learns the story of Moustafa and how he came about owning this hotel. In 1932 in the golden age of the Hotel Zero was an immigrant lobby boy, who, like all the other hotel staff, worked under eccentric concierge M. Gustave H. When one of Gustave's favourite regular guests, wealthy Madame D. dies under mysterious circumstances, M. Gustave H. and Zero join a gathering where the inheritance of Madame D. is settled. Gustave himself was a favourite of the old lady and vice versa, so in her will she stated that Gustave was to receive her priceless renaissance painting "Boy with apple", much to the dislike of Madame D.'s greedy son Dimitri who wants to prevent this at all costs. Secretly Gustave and lobby boy Zero sneak up to one of the rooms and steal the valuable piece of artwork. The Madame's family falsely accuse Gustave of killing her and the concierge is imprisoned. Gustave, Zero and Zero's girlfriend, a talented baker assistant Agatha now must prove the concierge's innocence and get him out of prison. With a cunning plan and the help with some fellow convicts Gustave tries to escape and set facts about the lady's death. Zero becomes one of his closest and most trusted friends during this time, but the old lady's greedy sun Dimitri is on hot pursuit to get the painting back...Despite being called "The Grand Budapest Hotel" and with many Hungarian names in it, it is set in the fictional Republic of Zubrowka. The movie was almost entirely shot in Germany (due to the old buildings fitting in well to the era the movie is set in).

I remember seeing a poster of this movie in my local cinema and what attracted to this movie was the cast. Most of them were my favourites so I went home and researched this movie and watched the trailer and it looked great! And when I went to see it, the film did not disappoint. I remember in the cinema it was only me and a friend that went to watch it and I left thinking that it was underrated and that it deserved so much more recognition. It was this film that got me into some of Wes Anderson's other movies and soon I became a fan of his films. I definitely would say he's one of my favourite directors. Anyway, this film, The Grand Budapest Hotel, is about Gustave H (Ralph Fiennes) who is a hotel concierge and his lobby boy, Zero (Tony Revolori) and after one of Gustave's mistresses passes away, he becomes a suspect and he and Zero are forced to run away and are lead on a very grand adventure. I definitely would say to anyone who is unsure of this to go and watch it, it might exceed your expectations. Overall, a great film with great actors.

If you're a WA fan, you already know that some of his movies are an amazing combination of character development, story, and art. Sometimes he goes too hard into the art and it story and characters suck. This is not one of those time. This movie is easily up there with Life Aquatic, Tenenbaums, or Mr. Fox.

Gran película recomendada al mil es una maravillaEl paquete llegó en perfecto estado

Questo film è a dir poco stupendo. Ne apprezzo davvero tanto la scenografia e la fotografia.Consigliato sia a chi ama Wes Anderson sia a chi ci si approccia per la prima volta.

The Grand Budapest Hotel has had a long and proud history. Unfortunately it has since fallen on hard times and now in the mid-1980's is but a shell of its former glory. While in the lobby, a writer (Law) happens to come across the elderly owner and over dinner implores him to share his story. Director Wes Anderson is best described as 'quirky'. And for me, his movies either work (Rushmore) or they don't (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou). In this case I thoroughly enjoyed it and consider it his most accomplished film. While he employs his usual collection of actors, they are mostly relegated to supporting parts. The story focuses instead on the hotel concierge (Fiennes) and the lobby boy (Revolori) and both are brilliant in their roles. They offer the human element and help ground the viewer in what might otherwise come off as ridiculous. Visually, the movie is quintessential Anderson. That said, he employs a technique of switching the aspect ratio from widescreen to full screen whenever portraying events in the past. While not a big deal in a theatre, at home it was frustrating watching the TV trying to figure it out (I had to stop the movie and tell the TV to not stretch the image automatically). Personally, I would have kept the ratio the same and conveyed the past through the use of Black & White instead. Despite that technical quibble, anyone who appreciates the director will adore this latest effort.

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.