The Strange Reality of The Grand Budapest Hotel

I was working at a hotel when Grand Budapest came out in theaters and was just delighted at how sincere it was at depicting the kind of passion some people have for hospitality. The concierge sequence in particular made me so happy, there was almost a sense of honor and respect for the profession in how it depicted these impossibly competent servants. Might be a bit of a weird reason to love a movie, but it resonated with me!

"It was an enchanting old ruin. But I never managed to see it again." I remember a comment on a video showing the movie's ending that connected the quote to 'Old Europe' and the spiritual death of Imperial/Old Europe after the World Wars. After reading such comments, I realised that the movie is a great example of how stories are made to cope with the melancholy of losing a time that is no longer present. This video helped to articulate and explain my feelings about this movie.

I think the multi layered facet also helps the story feel timeless. If you think about it everyone in the story is dead. The author wrote it years earlier about an old Zero, who outlived everyone in the story. That author, we learn in the beginning, has also died. The fact the story remains across these generations and continues to be passed down adds to its timeless quality.

My favourite Wes Anderson film to date. I love how whimsically quirky it is, and the narrative reflects Zero's memories, showing not only how events were remembered, but how they were experienced.

I think one of the most interesting parts of Zweig's works, which always clearly shines through in nearly all of his stories, is his romantic view of Europe, especially Vienna and Paris, and how free and open he feelt in these places, and his attachment he feels towards it. One chapter in particular of Zweig's memoir (which was written close before he comitted suicide), he goes into detail about the eroticism in Vienna, which was hidden away behind closed doors, and not talked about in public. But Zweig felt an urge to put it into writing; try to capture all of these things, even though they were taboo subjects, because he felt it was lost. He was convinced that nazi germany would win the war, and all he loved would be lost forever. In his memoir "The world of yesterday" he recounts all of these memories of pre war Europe beautifully, but with a ever looming sadness. Nostalgia for whatever good of bad memories you have, is always painful. Zweig lost hope because he clung onto all the things that he lost, and never accepted the impermanent nature of all things. Although Zweig found love and beauty in the Brazilian nature, where he would spend the last parts of his life, he never found beauty in humanity again. Even though he was surrounded by people who loved him, and admirered him, he lived in the past, and he didnt want to let go of it, which let him down a tragic path. I just want to say to anyone reading this, that if you're feeling hopeless about our future; feeling like we're loosing what we love, don't get caught up in the past, live in the present. There is and always will be beauty in this world, and your happiness can never be taken away from you by any external forces. You can find beauty anywhere. Live in the present; love it; fight for it, but don't let it take your happiness from you <3

Love how your video is framed like a Wes Anderson scene. Straight on, symmetrical, meticulously decorated and set like a doll’s house. Plus boy with apple in the back. I see the resemblance

The Grand Budapest Hotel is a fascinating film. It's basically a story within a story. Well, actually four stories. The cinematography style, story arcs and the music are memorable to the viewers.

The line that you feature from M. Gustave right in the middle is one I hold near and dear. "Rudeness is merely an expression of fear." What a powerful sentence! I think of it often, for it explains so much of human behavior. Racism, war, even the smallest discourtesy is rooted in someone else's fear. I sense a similar "beautiful grief" in "Howl's Moving Castle". Between those two films, we find nostalgia for a time and place that never existed, but design, color, and style of an idea. Of decadence, of simplicity, of beauty, culture , all cut by the ugly knife of war. Now, add to that grief, as you eloquently described, our own modern hyperawareness, of the wide and deep darkness of humanity, of corruption and abuse that poisons our world seemingly without hope of defeat. I think that is what is so beautiful about that movie - because life is always ugly, it's just different now, less decadent. What, perhaps, is left behind, is a feeling. A craving and a yearning. That feeling which existed then, by gum, it exists in us still! That beauty is not gone from our human souls, and what a celebration of it Mr. Anderson has given us. Thank you, Thomas Flight - this made my day.

What a beautifully written and thoughtful conversation Thomas. It’s so cool to see how much depth and research influenced one of the best movies of the last decade.

The way Thomas copies of idiosyncrasies of the film he's talking about, while talking about it, never ceases to make me smile. Not only is a fun joke, it also serves as an example of the point being made. Very clever. Any chance of a video on "Asteroid City" soon? I can't work out if it's a clever multi-layered work with deep symbolism, or merely masturbatory self indulgence; my opinion flips between the two extremes every time I think about it.

This video is a work of art. It needs to be added to a Criterion version of the Grand Budapest disk.

That's the thing. It was never the visual aspect that continues to attract me to Wes Anderson. I mean sure, it's cool and adds a lot. The thing that makes him stand out to me is how he is able to capture that specific kind of potent bittersweet melancholy that I rarely see portrayed ever (past and present). (I can only think of a few other things off the top of my head that do evoke it: The Charlie Brown Christmas Special and the ending of The Big Lebowski. Also Joe Pera.)

It really bums me out when people critique Grand Budapest as not “being about anything.” It always feels so easy and unwilling to actually dig in and try to figure out what it’s “about” or why having the obvious themes it does and the production, writing, directing, and performances aren’t enough. Just frustrates me because it’s by far my favorite Anderson

This is why you’re one of my favorite YouTubers and probably my favorite video essayist. You take the themes of the media you discuss and you incorporate them into the very fabric of your essay in this really fantastic kind of way. Excellent video. I’m gonna go rewatch The Grand Budapest Hotel now.

Wes Andersen always hits you with a stabbing sudden emotional beat right after a sequence of quirky capers, and that makes it all the more poignant and effective. (The cheff scene in French Dispatch most recently caught me completely off guard.)

I wasn't interested in The Grand Budapest Hotel, until I read an Atlantic article arguing the movie is about the Holocaust. It shows a Europe about to be engulfed in Fascism in a story centered on a Queer man and a Romani-coded boy, and all of the beautiful things that were destroyed in the process. I watched the film afterward and definitely agree with this lens.

I think one of the (many) reasons why the film speaks to people is because we recognize that a disease is again present in our society and that same disease was once responsible for the murder of millions. But because (in part) because of Zweig and Anderson, we're armed with the knowledge of what to do before that disease kills us and takes our dreams away. We can't just sit aside and remain nostalgic for our past at the expense of the future, we have to actively fight against anyone who tries to take that past (and our future) from us.

It always pains me so much when such grand and historical places are destroyed or replaced with modernity :(

My favorite movie for so many reasons. The technical execution, the artistic direction, shot composition, dialogue, themes, humor. Every time I watch it, I smile, laugh, and try to hold back tears. It’s the entire package and so much more.

I first saw this movie when living in Vienna in 2014. Then when I was living in Halle in 2020 I read all of Stefan Zweig's works. I had been to his house in Salzburg. I thought, when reading his work, that it reminded me a lot of this film. Cool connection made here.