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The Grand Budapest Hotel

year 2014decade 10sdirector Wes Anderson

100 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits ·

Ralph Fiennes M. Gustave
F. Murray Abraham Mr. Moustafa
Mathieu Amalric Serge X.
Adrien Brody Dmitri
Willem Dafoe Jopling
Jeff Goldblum Deputy Kovacs
Harvey Keitel Ludwig
Jude Law Young writer
Bill Murray M. Ivan
Edward Norton Henckels
Saoirse Ronan Agatha
Léa Seydoux Clotilde
Tilda Swinton Madame D.
Tom Wilkinson Author
Owen Wilson M. Chuck
Larry Pine Mr. Mosher

The Grand Budapest Hotel | The Rewatchables

host Chris Ryanhost Sean Fennesseyhost Andy Greenwald
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Producer credits not yet identified.

Most Rewatchable Scene

Alpine sequence (two choices); lobby-boy training (one choice)

In the discussion (18)
Approx. transcript time · 00:43:43Read transcript
  • Gustave greeting Madame D. establishes the profane humor with his refusal to accompany her to Lutz.
  • Gustave’s disgust at Madame D.’s nail polish interrupts her sincere fear of death and becomes a favorite comic moment.
  • Zero’s lobby-boy training reveals the hotel through Gustave’s rapid approvals and precise routine.
  • The train encounter introduces Henckels and “Keep your hands off my lobby boy.”
  • The will reading and Dmitri’s entrance combine the painting inheritance, insults and Gustave’s reactions.
  • Gustave serving prison mush and explaining his new friendships to Zero reveal his social adaptability.
  • Kovacs refusing Dmitri and reacting to his cat being thrown out the window are nominated.
  • Jopling pursuing Kovacs through transport and the museum is a major sequence.
  • The prison break is admired for elaborate design and practical camera ingenuity.
  • The Society of the Crossed Keys montage delights through Murray, Fisher Stevens, Balaban and Waris cameos.
  • The Alpine pursuit combines cable cars, monks, skiing and bobsledding before leading toward the hotel shootout.
  • The ending returns through the nested narrators, revealing loss and Zero’s preservation of the hotel as the place where he and Agatha were happy.
  • The post-departure hiring conversation, M. Mosher’s window appearance and shoeshine-boy detail are favored small moments.
  • Keitel’s prison-break plan and drawing receive special praise for understated comedy and a Winston Wolf-like presence.
  • Lobby-boy training is one final choice, favoring intimate comedy over the spectacular Alpine chase.
  • The Alpine chase is another final choice as a self-contained example of the film’s virtuosity.
  • The Alpine sequence’s repeated questions and intense confessional exchange add comedy to its miniature spectacle.
  • A second final vote chooses the Alpine chase, making it the majority choice over lobby-boy training.

The Great Shot Gordo Award for Most Cinematic Shot

Carousel; pastry truck; ghost staff; dining table; elevator; Dmitri pan; prison ladder

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:51:15Read transcript
  • The ladder descending into the prison-break frame is singled out.
  • Agatha’s carousel-lit close-up is the initial consensus favorite.
  • Zero and Agatha surrounded by pink Mendl’s boxes in the truck is another favorite.
  • The ghostly formal staff portrait after Gustave’s death delivers a strong emotional blow.
  • The pullback from Mustafa and the author into the darkened hotel makes the space feel like a cemetery and a stage.
  • The carefully arranged elevator portraits are admired for their exact positioning.
  • A camera pan arriving ahead of Brody’s running character demonstrates how the movement contributes comedy.

What’s Aged the Best?

Anderson; Fiennes; small roles; Gustave; Brody; accents; Swinton; Revolori; meals; palette

In the discussion (15)
Approx. transcript time · 00:56:05Read transcript
  • The film confirms Anderson’s historical stature through commercial success, awards and a defining central performance.
  • Fiennes’s versatility rarely receives a full reputational reassessment with each new film.
  • Fiennes can play villains, honorable authority figures and small character roles.
  • Fiennes’s melancholy beneath the comedy is essential to the film’s success.
  • The film sits within an extraordinary decade of Fiennes performances, alongside regular stage work.
  • Small roles get remarkable impact from minimal screen time; Wilkinson’s contribution is praised before a later reservation is previewed.
  • Gustave’s flexible principles are funny: grand vows quickly yield to practical needs, selling the painting or enjoying the money.
  • Gustave asking Henckels about his mother is a favored line.
  • Sleeping with wealthy older women is playfully defended as a strategy.
  • Brody’s profanity and ordinary New York delivery are singled out.
  • The cast’s varied natural accents, including Ronan’s Irish voice, work within the invented setting.
  • Swinton’s elderly Madame D. performance and makeup are praised.
  • Revolori’s untrained quality suits a novice lobby boy rather than detracting from the performance.
  • Small frequent meals for stamina is an appealing line or principle.
  • The film’s palette had a lasting influence on graphic design and fashion.

The Butch’s Girlfriend Award for the Weakest Link in the Film

Thin romance debated; Serge X’s sister; more Léa Seydoux wanted

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:20:43Read transcript
  • The Zero–Agatha romance can seem lightly developed, but their shared isolation and its lifelong importance to Zero are defended.
  • Serge X’s sister subplot is the preferred weak link; the name is corrected from Kovacs’s sister, and the severed-head misdirection is not considered convincing.
  • More Seydoux scenes would be welcome.

What’s Aged the Worst?

Work hours; service; poetry; shallow Anderson criticism; concierges; fascism; illness

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 01:23:00Read transcript
  • Working six-and-a-half days from 5a.m. to midnight is an exhausting standard.
  • Modern hotel service does not seem to match the idealized film version, though the historical comparison is uncertain.
  • The spontaneous romantic poetry is considered intentionally terrible and funny.
  • Dismissing Anderson as merely an affected stylist is rejected as a lingering bad take.
  • The concierge profession’s reduced distinctiveness is debated, with valuable local and language assistance defended.
  • Fascism is condemned, with a dark joke that its persistence complicates the category.
  • Scribe’s fever, understood as depressive writer’s block, remains an unwelcome problem.
  • Confidence that modern medicine would swiftly cure the fatal illness has aged badly after pandemic experience.

The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

Owen Wilson improves other Anderson leads; Dmitri is right, disputed

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:32:10Read transcript
  • Owen Wilson could improve the lead of every Anderson film except this one; Gustave requires Fiennes.
  • Dmitri may be right that Gustave exploits wealthy elderly women; a similar figure approaching one’s own mother would cause suspicion.
  • That suspicion is countered by Gustave’s long relationship, possible love and Dmitri’s possessiveness; simply honoring the painting bequest might have avoided the conflict.

Apex Mountain

Wes Anderson, qualified

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:47:20Read transcript
  • The mustache ensemble is considered against Cruising and Glory without a settled answer.
  • Beautiful boys approaching adulthood is rejected in favor of Stand by Me, with Cruising joked about.
  • Anderson’s peak is initially qualified but ultimately supported because the success secured room for many future movies.
  • Fiennes’s career opportunity is placed at The English Patient rather than equating this favorite performance with peak influence.
  • Revolori’s initial yes is revised to Spider-Man.
  • Other actors and fictional Eastern European cities are not affirmed; Sokovia is the joking alternative.

Cruise or Hanks?

Hanks

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:49:54Read transcript
  • Hanks is selected because he has worked with Anderson; Cruise is imagined as Gustave, Dmitri or Henckels without replacing that choice.

Is This Movie Better With…?

Wayne Jenkins as Henckels; Byron Mayo with Madame D

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:54:28Read transcript
  • Wayne Jenkins is favored as a counterpart to Henckels.
  • Byron Mayo is proposed for an encounter with Madame D.

What Piece of Memorabilia Would You Want From This Movie?

Boy with Apple; champagne and table settings; Mendl’s box; funicular; slippers

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 02:01:03Read transcript
  • Boy with Apple is the obvious choice despite earlier criticism.
  • The champagne split and whole table settings are desired.
  • A Mendl’s box is selected.
  • The funicular is desired for a residence.
  • Dmitri’s red slippers prompt another joking comparison with him.

Who Won the Movie?

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 02:01:42Read transcript
  • Wes Anderson is the final choice, while Fiennes remains the hypothetical Oscar recipient.
  • Anderson’s fully realized vision earns another explicit choice; art and aesthetic principles are also proposed.
  • A further Anderson agreement emphasizes beauty and satire serving the emotional blow of Gustave’s death.
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