THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL - Saturday 12th April 2014

I sat up high in a packed out Orpheum Theatre last night at the Cremorne Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace on a rain soaked night to enjoy 'THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL'. This film is a delight, and for a running time of just 100 minutes this Wes Anderson Directed offering will captivate your interest from beginning to end. This is Anderson's eighth film ('The Royal Tenenbaums', 'Moonrise Kingdom', 'The Darjeeling Limited', 'Rushmore' etc.) and while this one contains his trademark style, his favoured acting talent and his quirky touchstones this will rank right up there as possibly his finest work so far.

With a stellar cast that takes in Ralph Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham, Tom Wilkinson, Jude Law, Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, Harvey Keitel, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, Tilda Swinton, and Saoirse Ronan amongst others this film should succeed on that level alone. But there is so much more here to take in - the lavish sets, the beautiful colours of a decadent era, sharp dialogue, fast paced action, dark humour, convincing performances . . . and a gripping story.

We are initially greeted by an ageing author in 1985 (Tom Wilkinson) who begins to tell the story of his stay at the run down somewhat dilapidated Grand Budapest Hotel in 1968 (the younger self played by Jude Law) and how a chance meeting with the hotels owner, Mr. Zero Moustafa (F. Murray Abraham) leads to him recounting how he came to own the hotel having first worked there as the Lobby Boy in the early 1930's.

And so the story within a story begins to unfold as the Hotel Concierge, M. Gustave H. (played brilliantly by Ralph Fiennes) takes the younger Zero under his wing and their relationship unfolds in the lead up to war, occupation of this fake eastern European country, and what needs to be done after the murder of one of the Hotel's guests and the contents of her last will & testament are revealed. Gustav H. is devilishly debonair, sophisticated, well educated, admired by all Concierge, but can also scheme and connive with the best of them when the chips are down. And so this tale of deception, escapism and daring do mixed in with a little intrigue, danger, rich dialogue and heavily stylised images of a by-gone era make for an engrossing film.

You don't need to see this on the big screen and can easily wait for the DVD, but why would you? This is a great little film, and you will be rewarded by repeat viewing to ensure you capture all the little nuances offered on screen by Anderson and his assembled cast, the colourful storyline and the rich dialogue.

   

-Steve, at Odeon Online-