Oscar® Winner for Best Costume Design, Makeup and hairstyling, Original score, Production Design
NOMINEE FOR: Best Picture, Directing, Original screenplay, Cinematography, Film editing
MOVIE REVIEW
The Grand Budapest Hotel
MPA Rating:
for language, some sexual content and violence.
Reviewed by: Pamela Karpelenia
CONTRIBUTOR
Moral Rating: |
Very Offensive
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Moviemaking Quality: |
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Primary Audience: |
Adults
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Genre: |
Crime Comedy Drama
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Length: |
1 hr. 40 min.
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Year of Release: |
2014
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USA Release: |
March 7, 2014 (select—4 theaters)
March 28, 2014 (wide—977 theaters)
DVD: June 17, 2014
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Featuring |
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
Bob Balaban … M. Martin
See all »Tony Revolori … Zero
Larry Pine … Mr. Mosher
Giselda Volodi … Serge's Sister
Florian Lukas … Pinky
Karl Markovics … Wolf
Volker Michalowski … Gunther (as Volker 'Zack' Michalowski)
Neal Huff … Lieutenant
Fisher Stevens … M. Robin
Wallace Wolodarsky … M. Georges (as Wally Wolodarsky)
Waris Ahluwalia … M. Dino
Jella Niemann … Student
Bernhard Kremser … Businessman
Kunichi Nomura …
Sister Anna Rademacher … Nun
Sabine Euler … Schoolteacher
Renate Klein … Widow
Enrico Hoffmann … Footman (1932)
Marie Goyette … Housekeeper (1932)
Paul Schlase … Igor
Jeno Orosz … Doorman (1932)
Dar Ronge … Crippled Shoeshine Boy
Jutta Westphal … Frau Liebling
Gisela Bech … Grande Dame
Ursula Kuhnt … Grande Dame
Milton Welsh … Frnaz
Piet Paes … Taxi Driver
Michaela Caspar … Marguerite
Sabine Urig … Laetizia
Heike Hanold-Lynch … Carolina
Roy Macready … Old Man
John Peet … Young Man
Carl Sprague … Distant Relation
Golo Euler … Lutz Police Militia
Jürgen Schwämmle … Lutz Police Militia
Frank Jacob … Giant Convict
Claudia Jung … Usherette
Roman Berger … Parcel Inspector
Michael Benthin … Snitch
Matthias Matschke … Prison Guard
Lennart Meyer … Lobby Boy
Wolfgang Ceczor … Monk
Philipp Sonntag … Monk
Hans Martin Stier … Monk
Georg Tryphon … Monk
Gabriel Rush … Otto
Hannes Wegener … Soldier
Gerald Sullivan … Soldier
Oliver Hazell … Soldier
Ben Howard … Soldier
Bohumil Váchal … Judge
Ed Munro … 'Boy with Apple' (model) (as Edel Muro)
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Director |
Wes Anderson — “Moonrise Kingdom,” “The Royal Tenenbaums,” “Fantastic Mr. Fox”
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Producer |
Scott Rudin Productions
Indian Paintbrush
See all »Studio Babelsberg
American Empirical Pictures
Wes Anderson … Producer
Eli Bush … Co-Producer
Molly Cooper … Executive Producer
Jeremy Dawson … Producer
Christoph Fisser … Executive Producer
Jane Frazer … Co-Producer
Henning Molfenter … Executive Producer
Octavia Peissel … Associate Producer
Steven M. Rales … Producer
Scott Rudin … Producer
Charlie Woebcken … Executive Producer
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Distributor |
Fox Searchlight Pictures , a sister company of 20th Century Fox, a division of The Walt Disney Company
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“Boy with Apple”
When I saw the cast list for “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” there was no question that I wanted to see this film. The story opens with a young girl with a book titled you guessed it,
The Grand Budapest Hotel. She glances up to a bust statue of the author of the book. We soon hear the narration of the story within a story.
Tom Wilkinson (author) recounts his visit and encounter with a mysterious man rumored to be the owner of The Grand Budapest Hotel. This flashback begins a another story within the story within a story. The author is now played by
Jude Law. The man invites the author to a dinner to tell the author of how he acquired his fortune and the hotel. This dinner flashes back and establishes yet another storyline. The man retells his story of humble beginnings as a bellboy in the hotel and his supervisor, mentor and friend Gustave H. (
Ralph Fiennes)—a womanizing player who “befriends” rich, old, blond women and teaches his protégé all the ropes of running the hotel, until one of his old ladies dies under strange circumstances, leaving him a priceless Renaissance painting: “Boy with Apple.” This causes the family of the deceased woman to do whatever it takes to keep the family fortune to themselves.
Let me start with the multiple story-lines, they were simple to follow. However, the basis for the story-lines were pretentious and unnecessary. I felt the writers were trying too hard to make the film intricate, the plot was good enough without that. Moving on to the acting, two words “Top Shelf”! Every actor was on the top of their game, there were no small parts, every character was important and essential to this methodical plot. I must mention the cinematography, it was ingenious—looking like a dollhouse come to life, with the unreal realistic view of the landscape. It was visually entertaining like a Broadway play or a beautifully conducted orchestra.
That being said, there is a reason why this film is rated R. First, it is surprising violent; I wasn’t expecting that much violence. Next, would have to be the blasphemy and foul language. All the positive visual aspects, were overshadowed by the objectionable content.
It’s difficult to draw any spiritual truths from this film. There is a real attempt to redeem the lead character, persona. This attempt comes at the end, and does bring the story to a meaningful conclusion. However, with everything you see, the message of the film is somewhat untoward.
As for recommendation, the choice is yours, but if you want an uplifting film with biblical foundational truth look elsewhere.
Violence: Heavy to extreme / Profanity: Heavy—“G*d-d*mn” (8), “Dear God” (2), “Swear to God” (2), hell (2), damn (3), f-words (11), s-words (6), “pr*ck,” ass (3), a**hole, SOB (3) / Sex/Nudity: Heavy
See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.
Positive
Comments from young people
Movie Critics
My Ratings: Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 5