The Grand Budapest Hotel: The Illustrated Screenplay (2014) - Plot & Excerpts
Just recently, ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ has been a big movie so I’ve heard. My Nan went to see the film when it was in cinemas and enjoyed it so much that she bought me the screenplay for my birthday, seeing as I’m not a big film nut.All I knew going into this screenplay was that it was a quirky story, but I’d caught snippets of the preview when they were advertising it on the TV and it looked funny enough. Plus, I like Ralph Fiennes and Saoirse Ronan. My first impression after finishing it was definitely that it was bizarre, but very memorable. I really did enjoy the character of M. Gustave, and can picture Ralph Fiennes playing him well in the film. Although I did enjoy the storyline itself, I have to say that the format of the book is definitely what won it for me. I’d never read a screenplay, so that’s probably why I kept putting it off. Looking back now, it was just like reading a play, really, but there were stills from the movie throughout which really help you visualise the story if you’re someone who hadn’t seen the film like me. The pictures and the descriptions and textual layout made for such a quick and easy read, which always means bonus points if you’re a painfully slow reader like I am.I did really enjoy it, and would probably consider seeing the film, too, seeing as I like quite a few of the actors. Would recommend if you’re into this format! Having read this then seeing the film, I was transported to another time and place. I could not help but be reminded of another hotel in Zurich that was in similar disrepair, before going public. I spent a year of my childhood living there on the side of that mountain, traversing the 90 degree angle in a strange triangular cable car. We sat in a massive dining hall, so similar to the one portrayed in the film, but not quite as pink. A 20 foot Christmas tree dominated the hall for a month with real lit candles every night. How the place didn't burn down is still a mystery to me.But the fantasy of this book was not lost on me, it wove its glittered net around my brain and floated me back to a time when anything was possible. When gentlemen, however shallow they may have appeared on the outside, had real live beating hearts filled with bravery, decency, and a bit of old world charm. A time when families fought over fortunes, then hired assassins when things didn't go quite the way they had planned, and when youngsters faced extraordinary odds to overcome disastrous circumstances, to survive and even thrive. The tale is outrageous, and unbelievable, but impossible to look away, hypnotic, and horrible, amazing and awful, tearful and terrible, it will make you laugh and ultimately cry till there are no more tears left, for mans love for a kindred spirit, and ultimately, unfortunately, his inhumanity to those who are different.Buy a box of Kleenex, and enjoy!
What do You think about The Grand Budapest Hotel: The Illustrated Screenplay (2014)?
such a great story, and told amazingly well. I want my own Lobby Boy!
—cdb723
Funny and wacky movie in Wes Anderson style.
—kathy
