Grand Budapest Hotel-The Dollhouse Between Wars

I've been a disciple of the canon of Wes Anderson since Rushmore, which of course didn't introduce the initial Anderson players (that was Bottle Rocket, a Wes Anderson heist film), but more of them came on board, including Bill Murray (genius right there) and Jason Schwartzmann, among others.  Rushmore is one of my all time favorite films, for I can relate to being a "talented oddball" who aspires to "greatness", yet I find my attentions and passions divided, to the point I appear to some lke a drifter.  But I am not.  Wanderer, yes.  To a classic rock soundtrack.

Now, the point of Rushmore was to expand the Anderson toolbox.  With Royal Tennanbaums and The LIfe Aquatic with Steve Zissou, the tribe, themes and style are firmly in place.  The tribe is his favorite players, Mssrs Murray, Schwartzmann, et al.  The themes are art, beauty, surreal within real, and isolation, seeking connection.  And often, seeking greatness in addition or to substitute for connection.  A sense of the world as a diorama/dollhouse is often the style, with a kicking musical accompaniment.

Which brings us all the way to The Grand Budapest Hotel.  With this film, you have some intriguing variations on his tools.  Sure, the tribe is there (Murray, Schwartzmann, Jeff Goldblum, William Dafoe et all).  Sure, the surreal dollhouse look and feel is there (the kicking rock is absent, though, because the era is wrong.  Mr. Anderson likes his classic rock, but he also likes his authenticity and attention to detail in is recreations).  Simply put, you have two gentlemen in the modern day sit down to share a meal at the said hotel, which only has a few guests and apparently has seen better days.  The older gent (F. Murray Abraham) relates to the younger man (Jude Law) how he obtained the hotel and his wealth.  He started out as a "lobby boy" named Zero, a refuge from a people displaced by the activity of World War 1. He is under the apprenticeship of Gustave (Ralph Fiennes), the concierge of the GPH and a man who frames the world in beauty.  He even sees it in places others might miss, like older women, tacky art and the like.  A paramour of his, an older woman as mentioned before, incredibly wealthy, apparently has named him in her will as she just died.  So he goes to the reading.  At which point, he finds himself framed for murder, along with Zero, with one of the lady's relatives, played by Adrian Brody, determined to see him take the fall.

Well, Gustav is an industrious and determined man.  He also has a keenly honed sense of justice and etiquette and finds them all violated under these circumstances.  He is determined to see justice done, not only himself cleared, but the real culprits dealt with in the most final and mannerly way possible.

Thus, we have a war torn Europe and a struggling hotel as the backdrop of an epic personal struggle, a determination to preserve a world in which beauty is safe and unmolested.  A fantasy within fantasy, perhaps, especially in a Europe torn by two world wars.  But as far as ideals go, there are worse ones which to aspire.

Great flick.