The Grand Budapest Hotel, Wes Anderson's newest creation, is one of the most visually stimulating experiences I've ever had. I've already seen it twice, and each time I've noticed completely different details and parts of the story.
The story is very fast-paced. In Wes Anderson's classic style, the characters all have different stories colliding and separating in a mess that all makes sense in the end. The quirkiness of the characters (Zero's lopsided and pencilled-in mustache, Agatha's Mexico-shaped birthmark, Monsieur Gustave's love of poetry recitation, etc.) is always one of my favorite aspects of any Wes Anderson movie. To me, his characters always seem like just that: characters. They feel a little bit unreal, almost too bizarre to be real. But they also have very human moments. They make mistakes and have emotions. They are dramatic, quiet, unpredictable, and could viably be real people in many ways. If you were in the types of situations that Wes Anderson and his writers dream up, how would you react?
The order that his movies always convey (the centered shots, the deadpan stares, the motivated camera-movement) puts me at ease, since the stories are always so jumbled and complicated and intricately detailed. I've noticed that after watching a Wes Anderson film, I always feel very centered and purposeful. I do not fidget in my chair, I walk in straight lines, I notice the details around me, I am not afraid to look into people's eyes. I realize that everyone has stories, and that all of our stories maybe intertwine into a bigger, more sensible one.
Wes Anderson is somewhat of a surrealist in my eyes. I never forget that I am watching a movie when I am watching his movies, but the theatrics of his movies always overlap into the emotion and eccentricity of life in the real world. To me, that distortion of reality, one which can maybe even change the way you perceive reality after you walk out of the theater, is a really inspiring and fantastic feat of creation. Thanks, Mr. Anderson.
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