the grand budapest hotel

An interesting movie, I must say. It’s not the kind of thing you stumble upon every day. This is the first work I’ve seen from this director, and I assume it’s his most praised magnum opus. Even though the cast is great, since the movie has a comedic tone, there weren't many mind-blowing performances—except for Ralph Fiennes. He did a fantastic job. Willem Dafoe was also pretty good. The characters were well written and fun to watch. The movie even made me laugh in a few scenes.

Although the cinematography and atmosphere didn't quite hit the spot for me personally, they were still quite beautiful. The color palette was unique and fit the movie well. Static shots were used throughout, and the camera movements were just like the characters... I don't know how to put it, let's call it artificial. I can’t exactly translate what’s in my head to text, but what I mean is how the camera stays fixed and then suddenly snaps 90 degrees to the right, left, or up. It turns with these incredibly artificial angles, it's not natural at all. Just like the characters. This is a compliment btw, it fits the tone of the movie perfectly.

Anyway... the movie was inspired by Stefan Zweig. As someone who has read Zweig's popular works and isn't exactly a fan of his writing, I didn't quite get what they were inspired by. Maybe I'm just an idiot, or maybe there's some deep cut reference I missed, who knows. The movie is short and easy to digest. It’s not some earth shattering masterpiece, but it won't disappoint you either.