Wes Anderson is one director who has the honour of never having made a bad movie; it's a credit to his talents that his latest venture, The Grand Budapest Hotel, is one of his best films. With an unlikely - but undeniably brilliant - Ralph Fiennes cast in the main role, Budapest manages to be both traditionally Anderson and similarly innovative. All the classic trademarks are present: family feuds, the whimsical tone, the questionable fashion choices, and cinematography built around symmetry. But it also might just well be his funnest film ever, too, dense with charm and detail. Set in the Republic of Zubrowka, a fiction European alpine state in turmoil, The Grand Budapest tells the story of one Gustave H., a dedicate concierge at the hotel of the movie's title. When he inherits a priceless painting from one of the guests, the movie hits caper mode, and a whole host of crazed and noticeably idiosyncratic characters arrive on the scene, played by a smorgasbord of Anderson regulars, including the likes of Bill Murray, Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman. Witty and relentless, Budapest confirms Anderson as a filmmaker getting better with age.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
