After watching The Grand Budapest Hotel, I wanted to know more about Wes Anderson’s inspiration for the movie and more insight from him about the movie. I found an interview that Anderson did with Lily Rothman from Time Magazine after the release of the movie in 2014. In this interview Anderson discusses the inspiration for the film, the time period the movie is set in, and the making of the film. When discussing his inspiration Anderson brings up different movies from the 1930’s that he took inspiration from. He said he watched movies from directors like Hitchcock, Frank Borzange, that were set in Eastern Europe and often directed by people from Berlin, Warsaw, or Odessa and often stole things from these movies “pretty liberally” (Rothman). I found this interesting because the viewer can see where he took inspiration from these 30s movies in the aspect ratio and also the bright colors which seem to mimic technicolor.
Figure 1: Aspect ratio for the film during the 1930s
Figure 2: Brightly colored elevator and costumes
Wes Anderson, also mentioned in this interview, that he wanted to present a sense of nostalgia in the film. He talked about visiting old places and how they can be disappointing because they have worsened from their prime (Rothman). I think this explains why everything in the film seems a bit fantastical. All the colors are so bright and everything seems very stylized. It mirrors the nostalgia that Moustafa feels when telling the story.
Figure 3: The Grand Budapest Hotel in the 1930s
Something that was unusual about this interview was that Anderson said that he focused more on making an experience and less about an explanation or meaning (Rothman). I feel like usually directors and writers make films that have an underlying meaning or to make a statement, so it’s interesting to hear from someone who focuses more on the viewer’s experience. And I thought that you could feel that throughout the film. All the film elements combined, like the interesting camera angles, fast camera movements, bright colors, and comical moments contribute to an immersive experience.
Overall, this interview, although short, provided much insight into Wes Anderson’s inspiration behind the film and his intentions with it. It explained the purpose behind his use of certain unique techniques and how he went about making the film.
Interview: https://time.com/3661703/wes-anderson-grand-budapest-hotel/
Rothman, L. (2014, February 28). Wes Anderson on ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel,’ Nostalgia and Standing-Still Tennis. TIME. https://time.com/3661703/wes-anderson-grand-budapest-hotel/
Hi Rowan,
I read the interview you linked in your post and must agree that it is extremely enlightening to read about Anderson’s thought process behind TGBH. When he brings up his influences on the film, including Borzange and Hitchcock, it really got me thinking about the comparisons between TGBH and Rear Window, the previous film we watched in the class. Although the style of the film is rooted in film production traditions from 70-90 years ago, it struck me how different the themes of TGBH are to Rear Window. While Rear Window is an old film that feels current, TGBH is a new film that feels of another age. The importance of setting in TGBH is crucial to the crux of the film, and while the room we spend 2 hours in during Rear Window is important to its themes of isolation and vouyerism, it isn’t as revered in the same manner as the titular hotel, which in my opinion almost feels like another character in the film.
I think what is incredibly interesting here is the direction of our director’s intentions. In many cases, films set in antiquated eastern European settings (Stalker, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, etc.) do so to make a point about current society. But in fact, the intention here is to reproduce a sense of lost nostalgia, so what sticks out to the viewer is the changes in setting and depiction of reality over time. Anderson appropriately shifts his focus to making shots feel personalized to one perspective rather than to the shifting zeitgeist accompanied by passing decades. At the same time, Tai’s comment on the feeling of our films’ periods applies to how Anderson made this film. The prime intention here is to show the nostalgic aspects of change so it makes sense that our view of Gustave ultimately becomes a microcosm of what happens to the hotel by the end of the film.
Hi Rowan,
I really enjoyed reading about the interview with Wes Anderson, and I think its really interesting hearing what he had to say about his film and the intentions behind it. Something that really stood out to me from your blog post was when you brought up Wes Andersons intention to make the movie less about meaning and more about viewer experience. Reflecting back on the film, that makes a lot of sense. As I was taking notes during the movie, the most repetitive one was about the fast pace of the film. The way it cut from scene to scene, the fast talking, the fast plot-line. This really grabbed me from the very start, as i’m sure it did with others. It was just so unusual to what I am normally used to seeing. A scene that I think really shows Andersons want to prioritize the viewers experience was the sled scene. This action packed scene included Zero and Mr, Gustave chasing Jopling down the ski mountain on a sled while Jopling was on scenes. Not only was this scene incredibly fast paced, with interesting camera shots, but it was funny which I think also plays a big part in viewer entertainment pertaining this film. Although Anderson claimed to have focused most on the viewers experience I think that the plot and meaning of this movie came together so nicely and I really enjoyed watching it.