FILM
“Big Fish” was an example
of this, as was “Life of Pi”.
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” is one of the latest in
this storytelling style, and
it is quite simply an excellent movie.
It is set up as a story within
a story, where the narrator to whom we are first
introduced gives way
within a flashback to the
voice of a second narrator. This second narrator is
Zero Moustafa, owner of
the Grand Budapest Hotel. Once the first narrator sets the scene of the
hotel as it existed in 1968,
Moustafa (F. Murray Abraham, who won an Academy award for his role as
Salieri in 1984’s Amadeus)
takes over and brings us
back to his beginnings as
a lobby boy (played by
Tony Revolori in a debut
role) at the hotel in the
period between the wars.
His manager and idol is
the concierge M. Gustave
(Ralph Fiennes), immediately shown to be tremendously effective and capable. We also learn over
time of some of the extra
attention and services he
provides his clientele that
make him so popular. Zero
and Gustave soon find
themselves embroiled in
a murder mystery, where
Gustave himself has been
framed for the crime and
is sent to prison. With Zero’s help, he escapes and
they make a mad journey
through the mountains
aided by a series of unlikely helpers (including
hotel concierge Monsieur
Ivan, played in Godfather
style by Bill Murray) and
pursued by the menacing
and murderous Jopling
(Willem Dafoe with a
black dye job, brush cut
and death’s head brass
knuckles, leering at every
turn as an unredeemably
evil goon).
ner, the movie manages
to keep humor even in
dark moments.
“The Grand Budapest
Hotel” is visually rich, and
played expertly by actors
(other great performances not already mentioned
include Tilda Swinton, Jeff
Goldblum, Saoirse Ronan
and Adrien Brody) who
know the comic value of
appearing absolutely serious the more ludicrous
the
scene
becomes.
While the humor can be
a little dark at times, and
you should be ready for
some well-placed swear
words, it’s a delightful bit
of storytelling and one of
the best movies currently
playing.
In the end, the various
resolutions come fast and
furious, piling up on top
of each other as quickly
as they can be narrated.
This is the license of the
storyteller: to linger on the
entertaining parts of the
journey, and to quickly
wrap up what would become upsetting or or less
engaging if given more
screen time. In this man-
Pranada Devi is is an addiction specialist and the founder of the Chopra
Nirmala Raniga a communications professional living in Toronto, Canada.
Jacquie Robertson, RNCP, ROHP, is a Certified Nutritionist practicing clinical
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