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9 Oscar Nominations for ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’

by | Jan 29, 2015 | Arts and Entertainment

By Chad Alexander

“The Grand Budapest Hotel” recently won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and now has nine Oscar nominations. Do you know why?

The film is one of Wes Anderson’s best, magical in its spectacle and wonderful in its interwoven story of a friendship between a boss and his employee, Lobby Boy. The story of love, friendship, and revenge is all wrapped up in an escape comedy, that makes the audience applaud for the two main characters and care for the ancillary characters. It’s touching, hilarious, and poignant all at once.

Let’s look at the film from a critical perspective.

Acting
Ralph Fiennes does a fine job as Monsieur Gustave H. Simultaneously proper and outlandish, Gustave makes the humor more satisfying in the film by, well, satisfying the customers. The lengths he will go are like that of a playboy, but nothing is dwelt on for too long. It gives Gustave’s character a ladies’ man charm, yet not in the way one would expect. On the other hand, newcomer Tony Revolori plays Zero the Lobby Boy, and he reminds me of another Wes Anderson-style mousy, shy character: Ash Fox in Fantastic Mr. Fox. That being said, Tony is a fine addition to the film; I think with a few years he will be a great actor.

The director’s frequent gang of actors is all here, including Owen Wilson, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, and several others. The family who feels wronged by Gustave, led by actors Adrien Brody and Willem Dafoe, instill fear into the audience with their savagery.

Sound
After scoring several Harry Potter films, Argo, and even the latest Godzilla, Alexandre Desplat pivots from the epic score moniker to manage the quirkiness and elegance of a Wes Anderson film. The sound effects throughout the film as well as the additional dialogue recording are serviceable enough. Some of the shots incorporate only ambient noise in between an awkward conversation. This only accentuates the laughs in this fun and awkward film, and it only adds to the realism of the film despite the flamboyant setting.

Cinematography
I got a kick out of the scene where Gustave is approached by the police to be put under arrest. He pauses, thinks for a split second, and then darts away. The long shot of Gustave then running up the stairs of his hotel with Henckels (played by Edward Norton) and his policeman quickly behind him cracks me up. Shots like these, with awkward silences and abstract framing, give off the signature Wes Anderson feel without being monotonous. Robert Yeoman (frequent collaborator with Wes) manages to get the camera in unique situations where the audience may be so distracted by the look of the film that they forgot the performances of the actors. However, this is not a problem in the least and makes the film stand up in multiple viewings. Every frame is as meticulous as the hotel itself.

Sets/Locations
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” feels like a set, which is part of the charm (and makes sense since the exterior is a model). The intention is for the viewer to feel like they are observing life in a snow globe — something beautiful, yet constrained. Other locations, like Zubrowka’s prison, Madame D’s manor, and the interior of the hotel, open up the world of the fictional Republic of Zubrowka. These locations serve as a World War I era setting, eerily familiar, yet wonderfully colorful and fun. They seem to be European artifacts frozen in time.

“The Grand Budapest Hotel” is, in my opinion, certainly one of Wes Anderson’s best films. It manages a fine line between quirky and interesting. Everything in the film seems plausible, which gives the film breadth that the director’s other films may not have. “The Grand Budapest Hotel” deserved its Golden Globe. Now it heads to the Oscars with nine nominations: Best Picture, Cinematography, Costume Design, Directing, Film Editing, Makeup and Hairstyling, Music (Original Score), Production Design, and Writing (Original Screenplay). Which do you think it will win? Tell us in the comments.

The Oscars will be broadcast live on Sunday, Feb. 22, beginning at 7 p.m. on ABC.

The eight films nominated for Best Motion Picture of the Year are:
– The Grand Budapest Hotel — Read Chad’s review here.
– Boyhood — Read Chad’s review here.
– American Sniper
– The Imitation Game
– Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
– Selma
– The Theory of Everything
– Whiplash

Chad Alexander is a mild-mannered government contractor by day and a pretty normal sleeper by night. He has been dedicated to freelance writing for the last decade — writing scripts, short stories, and blogging in his spare time. He reads constantly, plays board games in his spare time, and enjoys a fine 20 oz of Cherry Coke whenever he’s feeling dangerous.

Read more Movie Reviews by Chad Alexander

Follow Fredericksburg.Today on Facebook, and on Twitter at @Fxbg2day

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