An opening night screening of a film festival can potentially set the mood for an entire event. Last year saw the annual Gold Coast Film Festival open on all the right notes with their screening of The History of Future Folk, which I recently revisited and reviewed and saw walk away with a fantastic score of 4 and a half stars.
This year the team behind the Gold Coast Film Festival opted to have The Grand Budapest Hotel as part of their red carpet opening night, the latest production from American film director and screenwriter Wes Anderson (Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom). While the setting may not have stood out from my own initial perception, it turned out to be a highly entertaining experience from start to finish, that focused on the drama but managed to throw in some well-executed comedy that more often than not worked really well.
The Grand Budapest Hotel starts several years after the main events that take place, with the narrator only known as “The Author” checking into The Grand Budapest Hotel, now well after its prime with very few guests filling up the rooms – with the owner making one of his few annual attendances at that time. After the pair meet in the bath, the owner Zero Moustafa decides to share the extravagant history of the hotel and his time under the guidance of the eccentric playboy / concierge Monsieur Gustave H as the “Lobby Boy”.
With Gustave H maintaining “romantic” relationships with a number of his clients over the years, one by the name of Madame D is found murdered. At the reading of her last will and testament, it is discovered that she had bequeathed him a priceless painting known as “Boy With Apple”. However his gain does not come without problems, becoming embroiled in a family feud led by her eldest son Dimitri and henchman Jopling. Accused with her murder, he and his “Lobby Boy” set out to free his name in an very elaborate way.
TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF MY LOBBY BOY!
The Gold Coast Film Festival website listed The Grand Budapest Hotel as a “Comedy”, and I approached this with scepticism given in my experience live action doesn’t loan itself well to pure comical experiences. But this concern was soon quashed with a good balance between the comedy and drama without compromising one or the other, where both worked in tandem to provide an experience that kept myself at least looking forward to more.
The Grand Budapest Hotel features a character cast of both seasoned veterans of the big screen and first-time actors, with those of both categories highlighting their own talents and the skills of the director to fit their characters well. Ralph Fiennes as Monsieur Gustave H. is the clear highlight, and is well complemented by Tony Revolori as Zero Moustafa in his first feature role. The remainder of the cast also features the likes of Willem Dafoe, Adrien Brody and Jude Law among others.
Anderson has managed to draw viewers into a distinctly designed world, however much of the action and events take place away from the Grand Budapest Hotel for which the film draws its title from. While small, there were also a few other issues that took from the experience such as never getting to see the blossoming relationship between Moustafa and his wife-to-be Agatha and a rather abrupt ending that seems to preclude much chance of there ever being a sequel.
Overall however, The Grand Budapest Hotel proved to be a memorable 100 minute film that was a strong choice to kick off the Gold Coast Film Festival for 2014, even if there isn’t as much to grasp your initial attention as there was in The History of Future Folk. The excellent balance between comedy and drama, memorable characters and a creative storyline had netted The Grand Budapest Hotel a well deserved 4 out of 5 stars.
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This has been only the second ever film review I have written for The Otaku’s Study, so please look forward to further refinement of my reviewing in this field over the coming months!
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