5.2 – Review and discuss own choice of British film productions and world film productions

The Grand Budapest Hotel / Wes Anderson

With quirky, absurd yet amusing characters, amazing production design and an enjoyable, unconventional story line, Wes Anderson's "The Grand Budapest Hotel" provides an unending ride full of light hearted humour.

Chapter 1 introduces us to concierge Gustave H; the heart and soul of The Grand Budapest Hotel, a pink palace perched high in a hazy mountain range. Gustave's most renowned guest, Madame Celine Villeneuve Desgoffe und Taxis (Tilda Swinton), becomes the centre of the hostility between the concierge and her money grabbing family. On the same day that Madame D departs, we are introduced to the young lobby boy Zero, who unintentionally becomes entangled in Gustave's disagreements. Gustave strives to teach the boy everything he knows and all there is know about The Grand Budapest, including his peculiar role in his weathered residents' private lives. "When you're young, it's fillet steak. But as you get older, you have to move on to the cheaper cuts.".

Flawless product design, shooting and editing, The Grand Budapest makes for an incredible visual experience. Both the characters and the story line are ludicrously funny and the whole film leaves us feeling oddly nostalgic.