The Grand Budapest Hotel, the best inn in all of Rurit-... Zubrowka,
a fictional country in the former Habsburg Empire.
You know... The old country-esque land
with picturesque environments and a Germanic/Slavic culture.
This place lives up to its redoubtable name.
(I mean, the GBH, not Zubrowka.)
And Gustave, its concierge, a legend
endowed with the French flamboyance of Lumière (from BatB)
and the queer flamboyance of Renly Baratheon.
He even writes epic poetry.
Long story short:
More than just a gentleman of wealth and taste.
and orphan of war, who looks up to Gustave and will become his sidekick...
...though Zero prefers the company of the other gender.
Like Agatha at the local bakery.
She's his fiancée.
The most loyal regular at the Budapest
is the elderly Dowager Countess Céline, a good friend of Gustave's.
However, when she dies of strychnine poisoning,
the French concierge is unjustly accused and arrested.
And subsequently imprisoned in a fortress that serves as internment camp...
With the aid of Zero and Agatha,
Gustave succeeds in breaking prison, but, upon his return,
he finds the hotel occupied by Nazi High Command.
And behind it all is the sinister, elusive Dimitri,
the son and heir of the late Countess
(and a collaborator with the occupants),
in pursuit of a painting his mother had bequeathed to Gustave...
When I first heard of this film, I thought: I HAVE TO SEE IT! And here is a list of the reasons why I perused this magnum opus and why I recommend you to see it (and surely relish this masterpiece):
- A cultured, French, queer hero for a change.
- A young sidekick who sticks to more than one sidekick trope (orphaned? Check! eager? Check!), yet somehow eschews many of them, and even shares the spotlight with the older leader.
- The setting is Rurit-... Latver-... Syldav-... Slovetz-... Borograv-... I mean, Zubrowka, a small fictional country in the former Habsburg Empire. The old country-esque land with picturesque environments and a Germanic/Slavic culture.
- Nazis.
- Strychnine.
- High society.
- Fine Arts.
Concentration Internment camp. In a FORTRESS PRISON!- Prison break.
- International secret society. Of CONCIERGES at five-star hotels!
- Slapstick comedy.
- Art Nouveau and Baroque architecture.
- Thrilling action scenes.
- A painting as a McGuffin, coveted by everyone.
- The heroes need to take this painting from the Nazis...
Some elements (the cultured French hero, queer issues, Third Reich occupation, the McGuffin painting) sounded straight of my favourite WW2 comedy, the British masterpiece
'Allo, 'Allo. Gustave is basically René and Lieutenant Gruber mixed thoroughly together and sprinkled with a dash of Renly.
Plus magnifique? Impossible.
Zero is no zero. Rather, he's pretty much the Loras to Gustave's Renly. The younger more than sidekick to the flamboyant leader. Get used to the picture. Except that it's Zero who has got the girl, Agatha. Don't let the fair-haired, sugar-incrusted pâtissière fool you: she's got skills beyond your ability to guess them.
I would also compare Zero to a male Arya Stark, for more than one good reason. I also see his name as a reference to the Fool on Tarot: an innocent child who is coming of age and whose eyes are being opened to the world gradually.
Dimitri, on the other hand, is a pretty convincing villain. Love to hate him and his cronies. He might as well be a Death Eater, with that sinister, gaunt look and those expressions of his. No surprise he is allied with the Reich. However, he also conspires against Gustave for more
personal reasons...
Long story short:
Setting: wonderful. Characters: a cast to admire. Plot: hooks instantly, and unable to shake off.
