Movie Review: The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

Wes Anderson is a genius. Yeah, that's how I'm going to begin this very review. I love Wes, because he is so artistic and symbolic, but he also doesn't let that take away from a really good story. Abstract isn't always a  good thing. Grand Budapest Hotel definitely is an abstract film, it also has a really good story at it's center. The film centers around an author who comes to speak with an employee at this exotic hotel. The hotel is very isolated, located at the top of a mountain, away from what seems like most of society. The employee then retells the story of his early days at the hotel. He is played by Ralph Fiennes, the acting from him in this movie is so unbelieveable, that you wonder why he doesn't just always win best actor. He is such a genius, he can delve into the mind of a fictional character. The story then runs that Fiennes has to team up with this bellboy, and ends up being involved with a prison break. This movie works for really two main reasons. 1) The narration. When a narrator speaks in a film, he always offers a POV from a different time. This movie excels at doing that, the narrator speaks his mind from the present, and goes back to the past. 2) The set designs. Everything that this movie uses as a background works really well with the story. The hotel has a really good look to itself. The cinematography is also really excellent in this movie, it doesn't really use it for symbolism, but being attractive is not a bad thing for a movie. Overall, The Grand Budapest Hotel is a great film that offers a great story, told with a fancied up style. Three stars.