30 | Sight&Sound | March 2014

March 2014 | Sight&Sound | 31

The spirit of Ernst Lubitsch lives on inWes Anderson’sfast-quipping screwball caper ‘The Grand BudapestHotel’, a chase extravaganza set over severaldecades in a fictional Eastern European country.Here, the director talks about the writing process,how he maintained the plot’s frantic pace andwhysadness and tragedy haunt the film’s atmosphereBy Isabel Stevens

“How would Lubitsch do it?” was a prompt that BillyWilder had framed and hung over his desk in ornatecalligraphyby Saul Bass. If there’s one directorworkingtodaywhomight have the samemotto displayed in hisoffice, it isWesAnderson.The influence of Ernst Lubitsch – alongwith Alfred

HitchcockandJ.D.Salinger–loomlargeoverthefilmsofAnderson,adirectorwhoworkssomewhatlikethegiantof the studio era.Well known for his industrious pre-planning, he storyboards all hismovies; has a penchantfor intricate staging, madcap scenarios and imaginaryworldsinfusedwithopulenceandartifice;andhelikestomarshalthepowerofanensemblecast.LikeLubitsch,hewrites screenplays that prioritisewit and charmandhisflawedbut endearing fast-quippingprotagonists – fromRushmore’sMax to the ‘Fantastic’Mr. Fox – are bundlesof energyhisfilmsare ina rush tokeepupwith.TheGrandBudapestHotel, Anderson’s latest, is a screw-

ball comedy chase extravaganza andhismost Lubitsch-likefilmyet. Set in thefictional EasternEuropean coun-try of Zubrowka (recalling theMarshovia and Sylvaniaof Lubitsch-land) asWorldWar II breaks out, it centres,naturally, on a palatial hotel (one similar to the plushHotelClarence in1939’sNinotchka) and the escapades ofitsdebonair concierge.Monsieur “Igo tobedwithallmyfriends”Gustave(RalphFiennes)hasthatscandalouspre-codeairabouthim,withthefriendsinquestionbeinghisadoring,wealthy,elderlyfemaleguests.AswithLubitsch,the convoluted plot here comes second to the thrill andingenuity of the ride:M. Gustave is on the runwith histeenage lobby-boy sidekick ZeroMoustafa (newcomerTonyRevolori) after inheriting apriceless painting from‘friend’MadameD(TildaSwinton),whohasclearlybeenoffed byher greedy sonDmitri (AdrienBrody). Aidedbyhis henchman (WillemDafoe) and a band of Nazi sol-diers (led by Edward Norton), Dmitri is after Gustave,whointurnis tryingtofindDmitri’sbutler,SergeX. (Ma-thieuAmalric), whoknows the truth behind thewholeaffair. In themeantimeGustave has lifted the paintingfrom under Dmitri’s nose, just as any light-fingeredcharmer froma30s romantic comedymight.WhenIarrivetointerviewAndersonathissurprising-

lysparselydecoratedbutunsurprisinglyimmacu-late Paris office, there is no Lubitsch sign –which

THEANDERSONTOUCH

CANDID CAMERA‘There are a thousand waysto point a camera, but reallyonly one,’was a Lubitschmaxim thatWesAnderson(above), whose camera ispermanently fixed at right-angles to the action in TheGrand Budapest Hotel (left),would no doubt endorse

PHOTOGRAPH

YBY

KEVIN

SCANLO

N

32 | Sight&Sound | March 2014

THE GRAND BUDAPESTHOTELWESANDERSON

onemighthave imaginedwouldbewritten inhisbeloved Futura, a font used for the titles in all his

films until he substituted it with a custom typeface inMoonrise Kingdom andwith Archer in The Grand Buda-pestHotel.Paintingsandbooks–theobjectshischaracterslovemostandwhicharealwaysmore thanmereprops–arealsonowheretobeseen.Theonlycluethatthisapart-mentbelongstotheinventorofsuchdelectableillusionsis a baby pinkMendl’s confectionery box resting on themantelpiece,eyecandythatcomesinusefulinTheGrandBudapestHotelwhenGustaveneedstobreakoutofprisonand thatwouldn’t lookoutofplace inMatuschek&Co’swindowinLubitsch’sTheShopAround theCorner.In a self-reflexive nod, thefilmbeginswith an author

(TomWilkinson)ruminatingonthesubjectoftheimagi-nation, declaring that ideas “never comeout of thin air”,andthatcharactersandeventsare inspiredbythepeopleand situations one experiences in life. “What I’m goingto donormally takes shapewhen I havemore than oneideamixing together,” saysAnderson. “Usually the ideashavenothing todowith eachother. In this case Iwas in-terested in doing a European story set at that time andwhichhada ‘EuropeontheHollywoodbacklot’ feel to it.I had this character inmind and then therewas a shortstory thatHugo [Guinness, a graphic novelist] and I hadbeenworkingontogether.AndI justmixedthem.That’swhen I thought, ‘There’s amovie in this.’”It’sbecomeatruismthateachAndersonfilmismorein

lovewith storytelling than the last.With itsRussiandollstructureandtheWWIIcaperrelayedtousviatwonarra-tors,TheGrandBudapestHotel topsthemall.Thiscomplexframework for the story was borrowed fromAustrianwriter StefanZweig,whosedistancing structuresAnder-sonhas admired ever since hefirst readhimeight yearsago. “The story has nothing to dowith Zweig,” says thedirector, “but the frame for thefilmcomes directly fromhis only novel Beware of Pity. There’s an introductionwhichisverysimilartowhatTomWilkinsonsays [inthefilm]. Then it flashes backwith the author as a character[played in the filmby Jude Law]whomeets someone [F.MurrayAbraham’s elderly, lonelyZero in thenow fadedhotel of the 1960s]who eventually tells him the story ofthewhole book. I don’t know atwhat point it ceases tobeZweig andbecomes afictional versionofhim.”Neverone for straight appropriation, Anderson adds a furtherlayerwith thefilm’s opening scene inwhich a girl look-ingatastatueofM.Gustaveintheparkisalsoreadingtheauthor’s book about the dandy concierge. “When I readBewareofPity,” saysAnderson, “IhappenedtobewalkingintheLuxembourgGardenshereinParisandfoundasortof abandonedbronzeofZweig.”M.GustavewillseemafamiliarlyLubitschiancreation

tomany: utterly unflappable, he seduces and controlsladieswith all the ease and charmofMauriceChevalierinTheMerryWidoworThe Smiling Lieutenant, even chid-ingthemontheirmake-upchoicesasHerbertMarshall’sGastondoes toMmeColet inTrouble in Paradise. ButAn-derson insists that the poetry-quoting, perfume-lovingcharacter ismore closelymodelled on someone he andGuinness knowpersonally. He had Fiennes – notwell-known for his comic roles – inmind before even start-ing the script: “Seeing him on stage in [Yasmina Reza’ssatire]God of Carnage, hewas so great and funny, hewasa reasonalone tomake themovie”.

Ever since he penned his debut, Bottle Rocket, withOwen Wilson, Anderson has chosen to co-write hisscriptswith others: “I likewritingwith friends. It’s usu-ally a matter of talking through the story with them.Then I do most of the actual physical writing myselfseparately.” Crafting the dialogue andGustave’s poetry,hesays,wasoneofthemostenjoyableelementsthistime– as was dreaming up the characters’ elaborate names.“I like to have a goodname for a character,” he says. “It’ssomething to latch on to. You can sometimesmake thecharacter liveup to thename”.Thefinal storywas not sketched out from the start: “I

don’t always have a plan aboutwhat’s going to happennext. It sort of just happens spontaneously when I’mmaking it up. But often I do have some scene or part ofa scene or a section of dialogue… that’s waiting some-where but I don’t knowwhere it’s going to go. And atsome point I realisewhere that fits. Usually it feels likesomebody[else]hasthegranddesignforthiswholethingand I’mwaiting for them to tellme, but no one does. Itis conceivable that if I could be hypnotised early in theprocess that Icouldgiveyouanoutlineof themovie,butI’mcertainlynot in touchwith ituntil it happens.”

LAWSANDDISORDERIn themid-1920s, novelist Vicki Baumworked under-cover as a chambermaid in two famous Berlin hotels togathermaterial forherbookMenschen imHotel,which inturnbecame thebasis forEdmundGoulding’s 1932filmGrandHotel. Anderson didn’t go that farwhen research-ingM.Gustavebutgotveryinterestedinhotels. “If Ihavea character that I’ve latched on to,” he says, “I start to beinterested inwhatever they’re interested in. I travelledaround Europe trying to get backstage and Imet a few[concierges].”Like the prestigious RushmoreAcademy, the animal

world in FantasticMr. Fox or scout life inMoonrise King-dom, theGrandBudapestHotel isauniverseof strict rulesand secret codes that contrast starkly with the gleefulmayhem that ensues. Another useful research toolwasthememoirHotel BemelmansbyLudwigBemelmans, theAustro-HungarianwriteroftheMadelinechildren’sbookswhogrewupin theBudapesthotelhis fathermanaged.The hotel becomes more of a character than any of

his prior locations. Its extravagant interior and colourschemearerevampedthreetimesduringthefilm:purpleand red in the art deco 1920s period; a sugary pink andgrey in theNazi era; orange and green in the 1960s. Re-flecting historical changes in the hotel’s designwasn’tpart of the script, but came from time spent investigat-ing locations. “Hotels have changed so radically sincethatperiod.Wehadtocreateourownastheonewewerelooking for didn’t exist and becausewehad gathered somanyideaswewantedtogetin.Therewasoneparticularresourceweused: the Library of Congress’s huge collec-tionofphotochromesof landscapesandcityscapes fromtheAustro-Hungarian Empire and Prussia – black-and-whitephotosfrom1885to1910thatwerecolourisedandmass-produced. I compare it toGoogleEarthof 1900. It’squite amazingandyoucan justperuse themonline.”Meanwhile the stateofZubrowkawas inspiredby the

director’s thoughts about themany Eastern Europeansand Germans working in Hollywood in the 30s.“I was as influenced by the Hollywood idea of

Like the RushmoreAcademy or scoutlife in ‘MoonriseKingdom’, theGrand BudapestHotel is a universeof strict rules thatcontrast starklywith themayhemthat ensues

ROGUES’GALLERY(Clockwise from top left)Adrien Brody as Dmitri,Tilda Swinton asMadameD.,Edward Norton as Henckels,Jeff Goldblum as Kovacs,WillemDafoe as Jopling,Tony Revolori as Zero,MathieuAmalric as Serge,Bill Murray asMonsieur Ivan

March 2014 | Sight&Sound | 33

34 | Sight&Sound | March 2014

THE GRAND BUDAPESTHOTELWESANDERSON

the interpretation of that culture as I was by thereal one,” he says. In contrast to Lubitsch’s fond-

ness for studios – summed up in his quip, “I’ve been toParis, France, and I’ve been to Paris, Paramount. I thinkI prefer Paris, Paramount…” – Anderson always has hisdoll-house-style sets built on location. “I like artificialthings in real places,” he says. Zubrowka was constructedin Görlitz, a small city on the border between Poland andGermany, close to the Czech republic. “It’s a place that isin a bit of a time warp. There’s lots of abandoned build-ings. But the old middle Europe is still there. We workedat a prison in a nearby city and we did a bit in Dresdenbut we discovered everything we needed in a very smallspace and then we adapted things. I like that way ofworking. It makes a huge difference if the cast and crewcan live together. You don’t leave the world of the movie.”

The frantic pace of the action and dialogue was an-other element influenced by Lubitsch – and Billy Wildertoo. “I hope it isn’t too fast, too overwhelming,” says An-derson. “I like to make short films. Not including the endtitles, this one is 94 minutes, but this is a long story. It’s a30s film thing to have them talk very fast. Most peoplewhen you ask them to talk fast, it turns into mush. ButRalph [Fiennes] has such clarity in his diction. I was push-ing him faster than he had ever attempted but it was oneof the most exciting things to watch him play thesescenes. There was something in the way we wrote the di-alogue – it’s not good if it’s not fast. The part of the moviethat’s set in the 30s has a different pace to the part that’sset in the 60s. That’s gently paced and more melancholic.As soon as they start talking in the 30s, they accelerate.”

This effort to demarcate each era was important forAnderson. “We tried to make as much of a distinctionas possible between the different shifts in the story,” hesays. In addition to the hotel design, the pacing and An-derson’s signature intertitles announcing the many actsand leaps in time, he filmed each era in a different aspectratio: 1.85.1 for the scenes set in something like the pres-ent, 2.35:1 for the 60s and – staying faithful to the propor-tionsoffilmsofthattime–academyratioforthe20s,newterrain for Anderson, who normally chooses to squeezeas much as possible into a wide screen. But the verticalnature of the academy format appealed, and the fact thatit echoes “the natural shape of the movie negative”.

LIGHTS,CAMERA,ACTION

The film’s many ingenious action sequences, however,owe more to Hitchcock than Lubitsch – including amuseum chase Anderson says he lifted directly fromTornCurtain.

Like North by Northwest, The Grand Budapest Hotel isconstantly on the move, and in the rare moments it stopsfor breath – in typical break-the-fourth-wall Andersonmode – it’s just at the moment when the villains are onto our heroes. But the director takes Hitchcock’s love oftransportation to an extreme. In their exploits, Gustaveand co use trains, a bus, a funicular railway, skis, lifts, adumb waiter and in one marvellously convoluted trav-elling sequence, multiple cable cars. “It’s not from onemovie or another,” says Anderson of the aerial scenes inwhich Gustave and Zero search for Serge in the moun-tains. “But I thought it could be from a silent movie, or30s Hitchcock maybe. That sequence we could even dowith a title card and it wouldn’t slow it down much.”

A common complaint about Anderson’s films is thatthey’re all the same, set in similar hermetic child-likeworlds.TheGrandBudapestHoteldoes contain all the An-dersonian tropes, from fetishised uniforms (look out forthe purple socks) to Gustave and Zero’s mentor/protégérelationship, but the WWII backdrop brings a new di-mension, involving tragedy on a much larger scale thanin any of his previous films. “The movie is a comedy, anadventure, but another key inspiration was Eichmannin Jerusalem by Hannah Arendt and her analysis of howthe many occupied countries in Europe responded tothe Nazis’ demands.” The film has plenty of cartoonishpunches and over-the-top severed body parts, but theNazis’ treatment of paperless immigrant Zero is capturedby Anderson with a sense of real menace.

Normally Anderson’s comedies swerve to a halt whentheir formal joie de vivre clashes with their melancholysubject matter. In the final scenes here though, Ander-son swaps his bright, multicoloured palette for a sombreblack and white. “I couldn’t give you a proper explana-tion,” he says of the abrupt change. “If someone askedme why when we were shooting, I would want to leaveit that way but I wouldn’t be able to make a case for it. It’sjust what felt right.”

Andrew Sarris interpreted the ‘Lubitsch touch’ as “acounterpoint of poignant sadness during a film’s gayestmoments”. In Anderson’s adventures, sadness surfacesin the most unexpected places and The Grand BudapestHotel recalls the shifts in tone in Lubitsch’s war farceToBe or Not to Be or the way suicide is dealt with amid theromance ofThe ShopAround the Corner. When the com-motion of the caper is over, the film’s ending is Ander-son’s bleakest since Owen Wilson’s Dignan walked awayfrom his friends and into prison inBottleRocket. So did heset out to make a grimmer film this time? “No. At a cer-tain point when we were working on the story we askedourselves if this was what we were going to do, butdidn’t seem any other way for it to end.”

People sticking together is always of the upmost importance in Anderson’s films. “Take your handslobby boy,” is Gustave’s call to arms in a buddy movieshattered by the war. Zero, alone in middle age, reminiscing about his lost adolescent love and reliving the pastin his lobby-boy quarters, surely suffers the worst fate ofany of Anderson’s engaging misfits yet.

iThe Grand Budapest Hotel is released

on 7March and is reviewedonpage81

‘Themovie isa comedy, anadventure, butanother keyinspirationwasEichmann inJerusalem byHannahArendt’

PARADISE REGAINEDEchoes ofAnderson’sMonsieur Gustave charactercan be found in Lubitsch’sTrouble in Paradise (above),which was rereleased onDVD by Criterion witha sketch of Lubitsch byAnderson (below)

KO

BA

LC

OLL

EC

TIO

N(1

)

REVIEWS

March 2014 | Sight&Sound | 81

ReviewedbyPhilipKemp

“Hisworldhadvanished longbeforeheentered it,” the agedownerof theGrandBudapestHotel,MrMoustafa (F.MurrayAbraham), tells theAuthor (Jude

Law), “buthe certainly sustained the illusionwithamarvellousgrace.”He’s recallinghispredecessorandmentor, legendaryhotel conciergeM.Gustave (RalphFiennes),who in thepre-warperiod ran thehotelwith impeccable control,style and suavity. Butmuch the samecouldbe saidofWesAnderson,who, inspiredby the illustrativeworkofhis co-screenwriterHugoGuinnessand thewritingsof StefanZweig, has createdanintricate fairytale visionof theworldofMiddleEuropeas it probablyneverwasbutperhapsshouldhavebeenbefore at least oneandpossiblybothworldwars.Andersonhas always striven todevise alternativeuniversesofhis own;TheGrandBudapestHotel is hismost complete fabricationyet, a fanatically and fantasticallydetailed, sugar-iced, calorie-stuffed, gleefullyoverripeSachertorteof afilm.According to taste, itwill likely eitherenchantor cloy; but for thoseprepared tosurrender to its charms, the richesonoffer –bothvisual andnarrative–are considerable.

Shooting in threedifferent ratios –2.35:1,1.85:1 and the classic 1.33:1 – todifferentiatethefilm’s threemain timelines,Andersondeploys a cast that evenbyhis standards isbewilderingly star-studded.Alongwitha rosterofAndersonveterans–EdwardNorton, JasonSchwartzman,AdrienBrody,OwenWilson,WillemDafoeand, inevitably, BillMurray–GrandBudapest indulges itself in the luxuryof casting such luminaries asTildaSwinton,HarveyKeitel, F.MurrayAbraham, JeffGoldblum,LéaSeydoux,TomWilkinson, JudeLawandMathieuAmalric in relativelyminor roles.

But it’s Fienneswhocoollywalksoffwiththefilm. Switching seamlesslybetweencourtliness andprofanity (having seenoffthe elderlyMadameDwithold-world charm,he remarks tohis startledprotégé, theyoungMoustafa, “Shewas shaking like a shittingdog”), hedisplays agift for comic timing that’srarelybeenunleashed sincehisEssexgangboss in2007’s InBruges.HeplaysGustaveaspolymathic, omnicompetent andcasuallybisexual, besidesbeingplugged intoanetworkoffellowconcierges, theSocietyof theCrossedKeys,whosehelphecancall upon in timeof crisis. Therolewasoriginallyplanned for JohnnyDepp;nodisrespect toDepp, but it’s hard tobelievehecouldhavefilled it quite so consummately.

Thefilmabounds in thegliding lateral trackingshots thatAnderson loves, aswell as in expensiveluggage (seeTheDarjeelingLimited, passim) andcovert jokes.Muchof theplot revolves aroundavaluablepainting, ‘BoywithApple’,whichMadameD(Swinton)has left toGustave, to thefuryofherbrutal sonDmitri (Brody).WhenGustavemakesoffwith thework inquestion,apieceof glossypseudo-Renaissancekitschby thefictitious JanvanHoytl, hefills thegapon thewallwithanexquisite doublenudebyEgonSchiele.Noticing the substitution,Dmitrismashes theSchiele in rage.ComicwordsofnonsenseGermanare tossed into themix. “Ich

wargespanntwie ein Fritzlburger,” theAuthor(Wilkinson) tellsus invoiceover:gespanntmeansexcited,Fritzlburgerdoesn’t exist.History isblithelyplayedwith: thewar that engulfs thecharacters breaksout in1932– “a combination”,Andersonexplains, “of the1914and1939wars”.

Inkeepingwith thefilm’s ludicmode,Anderson indulges inmini-pastichesof othercinematic genres. Thepursuit andmurderoflawyerKovacs (Goldblum)byDmitri’s hiredthug (Dafoe) in thedarkenedgalleries of anartmuseumchannelsfilmnoir,whileGustave’s

escape from jailwithagroupof fellowconsparodies every jailbreakmovieby followingthemthroughaholedug in the cellfloor, adumbwaiter, theprisonkitchens, theguards’bunkroom(tiptoeingdelicatelyover the sleepingcustodians), a steamvent, the laundryandasewer. There’s skilledpastiche, too, inAlexandreDesplat’s score,with its perkyzithers anddoom-ladenorganchorales. Yet beneathall thejokiness there’s a senseof loss, anostalgia foranage thatneither thefilmmakersnor all but afewof their audience caneverhaveknown.

The former republic of Zubrovka, Eastern Europe,post-1985.Ayoungwoman contemplates thestatue of the country’s greatest author.

In 1985, theAuthor tells us how, in 1968, hevisited the Grand Budapest Hotel, high in themountains, now fallen on hard times.There hemeets the owner,MrMoustafa,who tells himhow he came to the hotel in 1932, during its gloryyears under its greatest concierge,M.Gustave.

Gustave,who romances the elderly ladies whostay at the hotel, takes affectionate leave of the agedMadameD.Meanwhile ZeroMoustafa, a refugee,starts work as a lobby boy under Gustave’s tutelageand is attracted toAgatha, a youngwomanwhoworksat Mendl’s patisserie.News comes ofMadameD’sdeath; despite war scares,Gustave travels to herhome at Schloss Lutz, taking Zero with him. En route,they’re harassed by soldiers but rescued by InspectorHenckels,who stayed at the Budapest as a boy.

At Lutz, Deputy Kovacs readsMadameD’s will:she has left Gustave hermost valuable painting,van Hoytl’s ‘BoywithApple’. Her son Dmitri furiouslycontests the will.With the connivance of butler Serge,Gustave takes the painting, stashing it in the hotelsafe. Dmitri demands that Kovacs annul the bequest;Kovacs refuses, and ismurdered by Dmitri’s henchmanJopling.Gustave is arrested for MadameD’smurder andjailed.With the help of his fellow convicts he escapes,making his way to the remotemonastery where Serge ishiding; Serge confesses that he betrayed Gustave andis killed by Jopling.Gustave andZero pursue Jopling,and Zero pushes him over a cliff.War breaks out.Agatha, retrieving the painting, is pursued by Dmitri asGustave andZero arrive.After a shootout,MadameD’ssecondwill is found, leaving everything to Gustave.

Moustafa tells theAuthor that Gustavewas shot andAgatha died young.Hekeeps the hotel on in hermemory.

The Grand Budapest HotelUSA/Germany 2014Director:WesAnderson

Produced byWesAndersonScottRudinStevenRalesJeremyDawsonScreenplayWesAndersonStoryWesAndersonHugoGuinnessInspiredbythewritingsofStefanZweigDirector ofPhotographyRobertYeomanEditorBarneyPilling

ProductionDesignerAdamStockhausenOriginalMusicAlexandreDesplatSoundMixerPawelWdowczakCostumeDesignerMilenaCanonero

©TGBHLLC,TwentiethCentury FoxFilmCorporation andTSGEntertainmentFinanceLLC.ProductionCompaniesFoxSearchlightPictures in

associationwithIndianPaintbrushandStudioBabelsbergpresentAnAmericanEmpirical PictureMade in associationwithTSGEntertainmentWith the supportofDFFF-DeutscheFilmförderfonds,MDM-MitteldeutscheMedienfordefung,MFGFilmförderung,MedienboardBerlin-Brandenburg

Executive ProducersMollyCooperCharlieWoebckenChristophFisserHenningMolfenter

CASTRalph FiennesM.GustaveF.MurrayAbrahamMrMoustafaMathieuAmalricSergeX.AdrienBrodyDmitriWillemDafoeJopling

Jeff GoldblumDeputyKovacsHarveyKeitelLudwigJude LawyoungwriterBillMurrayM.IvanEdwardNortonInspectorHenckelsSaoirse RonanAgathaJasonSchwartzmanM.JeanTilda SwintonMadameD.TomWilkinsonauthor

OwenWilsonM.ChuckTonyRevoloriZeroMoustafa

DolbyDigital/Datasat/SDDSInColour[2.35:1], [1.85:1]and [1.33:1]

Distributor20thCentury FoxInternational (UK)

The Hungary games: Ralph Fiennes

Credits and Synopsis

See featureon page 30