Film: The Grand Budapest Hotel

It was with great glee that I took myself along this evening to see The Grand Budapest Hotel. You see, it's been cleverly marketed, this. The week before last, it previewed in the British Film Institute only. So it sold out, and I didn't get to see it. Last week, it previewed in several other places - but only on Sunday, when I wasn't here, and I didn't get to see it. It also showed in the secret cinema, which, for once, revealed what they'd be showing - but I didn't fancy paying over £50 to go to a secret venue, on a night when I had work in the morning, and the event was advertised as lasting until 11pm.

So I waited, and it was showing in my local Vue cinema today. It's handy, how Vue is one of the few chains that let you see an exact seating plan, so you can see how fast the cinema is filling up - I checked it periodically throughout the day. And while I could see seats being filled, there weren't enough going that I got worried. Which was handy, because, had I booked (in anticipation of not otherwise being able to get a seat), not only would I have had to pay a booking fee, but I wouldn't have been able to use my voucher either. Sure enough, when I arrived at the cinema, the display indicated that there were still 200 standard seats remaining. My favourite seats - centre block, in front of the aisle - were gone, but I got an aisle seat in the row behind.

Well now, what shall I say about this film? It's directed by Wes Anderson, and everyone in Hollywood wanted to be in it, evidently. Everyone who wasn't in The Monuments Men, anyway. And, actually, in Bill Murray's case, he managed both! Would you like to know who's in it..? As a review in the Evening Standard remarked, the cast list makes The Monuments Men cast look like the Tweedale Players (or something like that). I took the list from IMDB, it was easier than typing..

	Ralph Fiennes	...	M. Gustave
	F. Murray Abraham	...	Mr. Moustafa
	Mathieu Amalric	...	Serge X.
	Adrien Brody	...	Dmitri
	Willem Dafoe	...	Jopling
	Jeff Goldblum	...	Deputy Kovacs
	Harvey Keitel	...	Ludwig
	Jude Law	...	Young Writer
	Bill Murray	...	M. Ivan
	Edward Norton	...	Henckels
	Saoirse Ronan	...	Agatha
	Jason Schwartzman	...	M. Jean
	Léa Seydoux	...	Clotilde
	Tilda Swinton	...	Madame D.
	Tom Wilkinson	...	Author
	Owen Wilson	...	M. Chuck

Right then. The only people who actually appear for the duration are Ralph Fiennes, who plays the concierge of the Grand Budapest, and his lobby boy / acolyte, a newcomer amongst all these stars! The story hinges around Ralph's relationship with Tilda Swinton, here playing 84, while in her last film, Only Lovers Left Alive, she was married to a 31-year-old. You go girl! So anyway, she gets herself murdered, and leaves him a valuable painting. Her brutish son, Adrian Brody, frames him for murder, and we're off! On quite the most surreal adventure you're likely to see this year. Willem Dafoe plays Adrian Brody's henchman, and Saoirse Ronan is the lobby boy's girlfriend.

They're the only ones who appear in any way regularly throughout the film! We have cameos from F. Murray Abraham, as the former lobby boy, old now, relating his story to the "author", Jude Law (who turns into Tom Wilkinson in later life), who writes a book about it. Mathieu Amalric plays Tilda Swinton's butler, who finds himself torn between loyalty to his employers and to the truth, and the innocent Ralph Fiennes. Jeff Goldblum is the family lawyer. Harvey Keitel plays a prisoner that Ralph Fiennes befriends when he is imprisoned. Bill Murray is a member of the "Society of the Crossed Keys", a secret society of hotel concierges that comes to Ralph Fiennes' rescue when he needs help. Edward Norton is the police chief. Owen Wilson is Ralph Fiennes' replacement as concierge of the Grand Budapest, and Jason Schwartzmann is the incumbent when the story is being related to the narrator. Léa Seydoux is Tilda Swinton's maid.

Phew! Well, that's everyone accounted for. Now, what's it like?

It's terrific. One of the reviews mentioned that every shot is perfectly framed, but you don't appreciate what that really means until you see it. There are images from this that will stay with me forever. Ralph Fiennes, as they're saying, is a revelation as a comic actor! It really merits a second, possibly a third, viewing, because of the detail. And it carries along at such a pace that you will miss some of the finer points. Oh, and I found Saoirse Ronan's Irish accent quite striking in this unspecified Eastern European setting.

Check out the trailer. If you like the trailer, you will love the film. I did! It's almost certainly the most intelligent comedy you'll see this year.

Tomorrow's film.. well, I was bound to see it eventually! Looks like Nymphomaniac: Volume I. I do like Lars von Trier's films, in general. Nothing wrong with a bit of shock value. And my flatmate says it's good. Sadly, I have to go slightly further afield than he did - it's not showing in as many cinemas anymore. But I'll manage..