From my perspective, the subject matter of The Grand Budapest Hotel is too serious and heavy, especially in such a serious and historical context of conflict and pain in medieval Europe. However, the use of cameras and rich color aesthetics dissolve the various kinds of disorder(wars, bloodiness, violence, repetitive murder…), and all the cold exterior eventually magically ends up in a way of a warm and tender beauty.
The images are rendered in large pastel colors, giving an exclusive feel of the old European era. Monochromatic screen design is used very frequently with lavish red and pink decorating the interior of the hotel, which according to the reading we did, “warm color attracts attention”, along with elaborate details bringing a visual feast directly to the audience.
The colors are bright and full, and the composition is neat and tidy with plenty of symmetry displayed, giving a feeling of both solemnity and comicality.The construction of different symmetrical scenes(the hotel outer appearance, the hotel lobby, the train that goes across the bridge, even the scene when guards come to arrest Zero and M. Gustave on the train) all serves to display a sense of uniformity and grotesquely conservative style, which applies to depict the setting of medieval Europe as well as its brilliant arts and humanistic feelings.
After research, I found this Youtube video talking about the use of color palettes by the director Wes Anderson. It splits the film’s general color tone through 4 different essential timelines: 1932, 1968, 1985, and a later time inside the graveyard. The video detailly analyzed the use and shift of color tone under different circumstances, from pink and purple and white to orange and dark brown, to indicate the fading glory as well as to reveal that the hotel itself is functioning as a shelter for the rich and the outside world is filled with cruelty, which exposes the reality of continuous war. It also explains that color selection can depict not only settings but also characters’ personalities and social roles. These in total serve as a great tool that help the filmmaker reach the theme of the film by exposing brutal reality in a beautiful and less intense way.
Hi Liz! I loved your analysis and learned so much about the role color palettes played in this film. I found it especially interesting the color of the characters’ clothes reflected their role in the film. For example, the antagonists were in darker colors (Dmitri was in black, and the soldiers were dressed in grey) and the protagonists, such as the hotel workers, dressed in bright colors (purple), and even the Grand Budapest Hotel, which symbolizes a place of special importance is mainly filled with pastel colors such as pink and yellow. I also loved how Wes Anderson played with the saturation of colors while showcasing the four different timelines of the film, from the less saturated 1932, to the more modern day 1965, to the more vibrant 1985.