The Great Exotic Budapest Hotel

The Grand Budapest Hotel is the latest offering from quirky auteur Wes Anderso. The film is loosely based upon the writings of Stefan Zewig, and tells the story of a hotel concierge and a lobby boy, working in a hotel in the 1930's, struggling to prove the concierge's innocence. The film features an all star cast featuring many Anderson favorites including Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Ralph Fiennes, F Murray Abraham and Tilda Swindon.

The film looks fantastic, and the direction of this film is at the forefront. Anderson uses a quirky and interesting style, and the camera never sweeps, it only pans or is stationary, interestingly this gives the whole film a theatrical element, almost as if we are watching a play. The film features extensive use of miniatures, beautifully animated and stunningly ornate, this adds to the theatrical feel of the whole film, and like everything else in this film, it just sort of works. Despite the film being highly theatrical and quirky, the hotel itself is a highly fleshed out and fascinating creation, it feels like so much more than just a facade, and the hotel itself really is a character in this film, this film is testament to the concept that no matter how real or lifelike your film looks, it takes much more than an animator and a computer to give a film heart, and using little more than paint, glue and paper, Wes Anderson has created a world as real and tactile as visible in any CGI extravaganza.

The film's cast is fantastic, and Ralph Fiennes shines in the leading role, who knew that Fiennes had such good comic timing? Fiennes is charismatic, funny and charming as Gustave H. the hotel's prickly and brusk concierge. Also fantastic is newcomer Tony Revolori, who despite being young and inexperienced, has the magnetism to captivate the audience's attention. The film features a fantastic supporting cast, and the film is a testament to how iconic a director Wes Anderson truly is, Léa Seydoux, Edward Norton, F Murray Abraham, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Jude Law, Bill Murray and Owen Wilson all appear in cameos and supporting roles. The film's rich and diverse cast is instrumental to the success of this film, and bolstered by a stunning leading performance from Ralph Fiennes, this cast delivers.

The Grand Budapest Hotel is beautiful and ornate, delicate and funny, and features Anderson once again using his signature quirky style in a new and exciting way in order to explore a fun and emotional story about heartbreak and wealth, father-son relationships, age and youth. The film looks truly fantastic, and the cast is wonderful and talented, but in this movie, it is truly Wes Anderson and the emotional story that is the star. Once again Wes Anderson uses quirky visuals, but never lets it get in the way of the bigger picture being told. Rating: A-

M. Gustave: You see, there are still faint glimmers of civilization left in this barbaric slaughterhouse that was once known as humanity. Indeed that's what we provide in our own modest, humble, insignificant... oh, fuck it.