Part of Wednesdays With Wes
Wes Anderson brings his dry wit and visual inventiveness to this exquisite caper set amid the old-world splendor of Europe between the world wars. At the opulent Grand Budapest Hotel, the concierge M. Gustave (Ralph Fiennes) and his young protégé Zero (Tony Revolori) forge a steadfast bond as they are swept up in a scheme involving the theft of a priceless Renaissance painting and the battle for an enormous family fortune — while around them, political upheaval consumes the continent. Meticulously designed, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL is a breathless picaresque and a poignant paean to friendship and the grandeur of a vanished world, performed with panache by an all-star ensemble that includes F. Murray Abraham, Adrien Brody, Saoirse Ronan, Willem Dafoe, Jude Law, Harvey Keitel, Jeff Goldblum, Mathieu Amalric, Tilda Swinton, and Bill Murray.
“Hitler and Stalin don’t exist in this kingdom of make-believe, but sudden eruptions of violence and the offhand mention of tragic happenings point toward a profound darkness just outside the frame. Mr. Anderson is no realist. This movie makes a marvelous mockery of history, turning its horrors into a series of graceful jokes and mischievous gestures. You can call this escapism if you like. You can also think of it as revenge.” —A.O. Scott, NYT Critic’s Pick, New York Times (Mar 6, 2014) “With this latest, the writer/director doubles down on everything that makes a Wes Anderson picture so indelibly, irrefutably his own – everything that nudges the audience either all-in or peevishly on-the-outs. The verdict? THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL is nothing short of an enchantment, one even the holdouts may be hard-pressed to resist.” —Kimberley Jones, Austin Chronicle (Mar 14, 2014) “A captivating 1930s-set caper whose innumerable surface pleasures might just seduce you into overlooking its sly intelligence and depth of feeling…. A vibrant and imaginative evocation of a bygone era, with a brilliant lead performance from Ralph Fiennes that lends Anderson’s latest exercise in artifice a genuine soul.” —Justin Chang, Variety (Feb 6, 2014) “Anderson the illusion-maker is more than graceful, he’s dazzling, and with this movie he’s created an art-refuge that consoles and commiserates. It’s an illusion, but it’s not a lie.” —Glenn Kenny, rogerebert.com (Mar 7, 2014)
