the grand budapest hotel (2013)

i've watched this movie so many times, i can sing you the instrumental soundtrack.

i shit you not.

even typing out the words "the grand budapest hotel" launches me into an impromptu interpretation of the part where zero talks about how his life began and the scene shifting to him walking in (the camera panning forward from above), m gustave (el voldy) talking about what a lobby boy is, l'air de panache, gustave's sermon, deputy kovacs, mendl's and agatha (mainly that last bit actually). i may have gone overboard with the details there but. lawdy lawd, i love this movie so much. it's insane. the music is incredible, monsieur desplat.

irrelevantly, gustave is also a large crocodile from Burundi who ate people. just food for thought.

anyway this movie, as is most of wes anderson's work actually, is incredibly aesthetically pleasing. the way he composes each frame, the colours (photochrom-like), the ostentatious-over the top decorations, the attention to detail, the costumes (the red trim on the gustave's deep purple coat), how the camera moves and pans in vehicles and etc., the perfectly measured and constant spacings between characters as they move throughout the frames, the symmetry (an anal retentive's wet dream), even the way he changes the aspect-ratio to signify different time periods. it's incredible.

his style is just so unique and awe-evoking. just thinking about what must go on in his head is ... *makes indecipherable sounds. he's so creative and eccentric.

just so you know, most of the wide shot scenery scenes, and scenes of the exterior of buildings are actually of hand crafted miniatures and hand painted backgrounds.

internally screaming

HAH! TAKE THAT.

it's not just the aesthetics too, it's also his script, the way the characters are, how they're introduced, how they deliver their lines. it's awkward, definitely. but it's awkward in a way that it's also endearing, hilarious, and gosh, i don't know. check it out and have a look at it yourself. the dialogue is incredibly witty, humorous, and enough to justify second, third, and fourth viewings (as if the aesthetics weren't enough).

"Rudeness is merely the expression of fear. People fear they won’t get what they want. The most dreadful and unattractive person only needs to be loved, and they will open up like a flower. I’m reminded of a verse: ‘The painter’s brush touched the inchoate face with ends of nimble bristles."

"The plot thickens, as they say. Why, by the way? Is it a soup metaphor?"

the casting itself is phwoar (yes, i've resorted to typing out sounds). i think it's incredible, how he ridiculously gives well-known actors (willem dafoe, jason schwartzman, saorise ronan, adrian brody, owen wilson, jude law, bill murray, tilda swinton, jeff goldblum, edward norton, etc.) all these supporting roles (which sounds insane, actually) and yet, it comes off so well. each of them are memorable.

come with me. i can't put it into words but i feel it.

did he just throw my cat out of the window?

.. granting you free and unmolested travel

you're not getting 'boy with apple', you goddamn little fruit

why blonde?

we're moving into a standard double on the third floor.

zero: is he flirting with you?
agatha: yes.

there are glimpses of decency in this slaughterhouse that we used to call humanity, and what we aim to provide in our simple, humble, dignified... oh, fuck it.

don't you know? don't you recognise him?

out of all his films though, this has got to be my all time favourite.

#1 the grand budapest hotel
#2 the royal tenenbaums
#3 fantastic mr. fox (although i have mixed feelings about this one and have to go read the book again)
#4 the darjeeling limited

in a single word, wes anderson, his work, it's just bizarre (the best kind of it).

i love how the film embodies how stories are so easily influenced by things, people. a single encounter with a person can create a work of art. it also shows us what time does to things; how some of the old magic and wonder is replaced as time passes, both sad and beautiful at the same. it reminds us of the immortalizing quality of stories and words.

so many things go on in the film, it's so fast paced. it's completely ridiculous. and yet, somehow, it all just fits. that's anderson for you. the guns, the fast moving sequences, the chases, the emotions when zero talks about agatha and gustave, gustave eating alone in his room. it may seem superficial at first but when you really listen and look at what's going on in the film. there are so many layers to it. the character gustave for instance. there are constant referrals to his bisexuality/homosexuality, and yet, it's done in a way that it is so blatant and yet subtle. and no matter what, you can't help but to love his character. everything about him, the deep purple, the liberal perfuming, everything. i honestly would like to see a homophobe's reaction to this film. because i feel it is impossible to dislike this character.

i feel like gustave's character embodies the idea that everyone has their flaws, they may be insecure, vain, prey on the insecurities of older women etc., but that does not mean they're ugly people, dead inside, or that they're any less worthy or anything. it just means that's part of who they are. that's just the way the world is. you just have to learn to accept that and move on, and try to be the best you can. and, i find that to be very real (i'm not articulating it properly, as per usual. but i hope you get what i mean).

ironically, the film itself is pretty far removed from reality, like the scene where zero and gustave sled after willem dafoe's character. it looks completely unreal, a lack of real-world logic, like gravity or chaos theory. (for good reason, it was shot using clay models) but it's beautiful all the same. i love it more for this, in fact. it's like baz luhrman's style in a way... although somehow that (baz luhrman, i mean) doesn't work for me so much.

i know i've said this enough, but i really an running out of adjectives. it was incredible.

i've been trying to call out a favourite part of the film, but really that feels almost impossible. the entire film is just *indecipherable noises

i have a newfound respect for lord voldy. i honestly could not recognise him. the way he played gustave... he belonged there. i can't ever see him as lord voldeypants anymore. he will always be M. Gustave H., the famed concierge of the establishment known as the grand budapest. he was the same as his disciples; rich, insecure, vain, superficial, blonde, needy. why blonde? because they all were.

that's a wrap! (see what i did there? *dorky laughter)

finally, because if you haven't seen it yet, you'd need this.

and this

i'm sorry, i tried to do a review, but i've just realised this was basically me screaming incoherently about how much i love the film. 

just watch it.

BAM. productivity! *bows