The Grand Budapest Hotel, By Wes Anderson

Hotel Rwanda, released in December of 2004, is based on the true story on the life of Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager of Hotel des Mille Collines, who saved the lives of 1,268 people in the face of genocide. This movie is based on the true events of the Rwandan Genocide in 1994 that occurred in Kigali, the capital and largest city of Rwanda in Africa. It touches upon when the Hutu extremists of Rwanda initiated an act of genocide on thousands of the minority group, Tutsis. This movie was directed/written by Terry George and Keir Pearson. Major cast include Don Cheadle (Paul Rusesabagina), Sophie Okonedo (Tatiana), Joaquin Phoenix (Jack), and Nick Nolte (Colonel Oliver of the UN). Other cast members include Fana Mokoena (General

The story begins with an older Author played by Tom Wilkinson telling the tale on how he gets his inspiration for his book which is also named The Grand Budapest Hotel. Then the younger version of the author, played by Jude Law who meets Monsieur Zero Moustafa (F. Murray Abraham) was shown. Zero meets the author and tells the tale on how he became the hotel’s owner. In the film, Anderson

A good movie can either be captivating or exhilarating depending on the plot of the movie. Like the thrill of a rollercoaster, it is the same thrill that comes from watching the King Kong movie. It is both captivating as well as fascinating in the sense that it provides rich thematic presence and sceneries. In this paper, King Kong will be viewed from a critical perspective to argue if it truly deserves the amount of fame it has been given.

In Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel, I believe the movie's design has a unified feel. By understanding Anderson's approach to cinematography, we can tell that the costume and visual designs ensemble a true Wes Anderson's film. In fact, he is indulged with patterns and lively colors. His plot mainly reflects an old- fashioned, nostalgic feel and he is a bit playful with camerawork. On the other hand, the Grand Budapest really feel like a lively, happy hotel. The use of colors and contrasting hues made the setting almost looks like a painting. For example, the frame narrative where the Grand Budapest Hotel became the setting, the mise-en-scène and the lighting of the film become almost too symmetrical and mannered, especially during the

The movie “Gone with the Wind” is about a rich southern girl named Scarlett O’Hara and her life hardships set during the time-period of the Civil War. In the story, Scarlett is forced to watch helplessly as her family’s wealth and lives fade as the confederacy loses the Civil War. Even though, the movie is mainly centered on the dilemmas of Scarlett’s love life, there are many historical accuracies that immerse the viewer in the southern mindset as well as the timeframe. The portrayal of class structures and the confederate attitudes before the Civil War are both accurate and engaging details that the movie successfully implements. In the film, these examples are displayed mainly through the dialogue and setting.

The film “Renaissance Man” is directed by Penny Marshall. Renaissance Man was first taken place in the state of Michigan in the city Detroit where Bill Rago’s businessman dream job fails. Bill Rago is very brilliant but, conceited. He owes a lot of people money, late on his bills, and his daughter wants him to believe in her. His conceitedness got him fired from his businessman job. The unemployment agency finds him a teaching job on a U.S Army base, Fort McClane. Where he is to teach a Drill Sergeant Class how to comprehend in six weeks. This Drill Sergeant Class calls themselves the “Double D’s”. Bill finds the Double D’s impossible to teach in six weeks because they came from poor backgrounds.  But, Bill’s knowledge of his favorite Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet”  helps the Double D’s a lot and they learn how to comprehend. Even though, Bill Rago is conceited and does not care or take anything serious at the beginning of the movie Bill also, listens to what people says even though it does not seem like it he is also, very brilliant when he puts his mind and heart into his work and deep down he is very caring, which leads to the Double D’s being successful and learning how to comprehend.

“Do I still get to tend the rabbits George?” “Yes you do. You done nothing wrong.”

African Americans have been oppressed in America for a number of years, that’s not a surprise to anyone. But people don’t really understand what such oppression really is and what it looks like, and anyone who isn’t African American couldn’t no matter how hard they try, because they don’t experience it. The closest that anyone outside of the group can get is a snapshot, a quick look from a couple of two hour movies here and there, allowing them to see the a hidden world through the eyes of someone who lives it, a glimpse at oppression and how these people deal with such a world different from the life around them.

The based on a true story trademark of the film Hotel Rwanda has implications for genocidal memory, post genocidal peace and reconciliation, and the promotion of heroism amid the udder chaos that engulfed the country. The film ultimately illustrates an oversimplified, ideologically driven version of the 1994 massacre. It emphasizes the role of a Hollywood hero, rather than the deeply rooted and complex factors at the center of the violence, leading to popular opinion of the Hutu population as barbaric and uncivilized and the Tutsi as innocent liberators. The film is historically accurate with respect to its representation of the physical similarities between both populations, as well as its depiction of the Hutu and Tutsi living in harmony prior to the assassination of the Rwandan president. Despite these accuracies, Hotel Rwanda fails to capture the true matrix of economic, political and historical mechanisms capable of motivating acts of violence of this stature. Furthermore, the film utterly discounts the role played by Belgian imperialism in transforming the societal makeup of Rwanda. Instead the film maintains a violent aesthetic, emphasizing the brutality of the conflict in order to appeal to a wider audience.

The hotel becomes a character in and on itself. However, because “all the fabrics are hand done” it is a very extensive labor to be able to cover up an originally plain department store. As a matter of fact, it is very challenging to change the hotel’s setting from the 1960’s and renovating it again back to the 1930’s; hence, the setting moves back and forth throughout the narrative. First, it started with an anonymous girl clutching a book of The Grand Budapest Hotel in a cemetery where the colors seem to be a little bit dull with shades of grays and brown. As the story goes on, the setting changes to The Author. As The Author directly approaches the camera, the setting with shades of orange and yellow change the mise-en-scene of the film. Consequently, The Author narrates now in the decaying hotel with Zero Moustafa where there are not many vivid colors, but when Zero Moustafa finally told the story to The Author, the location takes place to the main setting of the narrative’s plot. As a result, the 1930’s Grand Budapest setting is where the story truly evolves. From Zero’s lobby boy costume, to Madame D’s intricate makeup and to even the sugary bakes box of Mendl’s, it is implied that it is where most of the production design has been really worked had

Wes Anderson’s 2014 film entitled, ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ features brilliant cinematography that invites the audience into a beautifully captured and skillfully framed story. The plot summary of the film is described as follows, “The Grand Budapest Hotels recounts the adventures of Gustave H, a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars, and Zero Moustafa, the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend. The story involves the theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance painting and the battle for an enormous family fortune -- all against the back-drop of a suddenly and dramatically changing Continent” (Fox Searchlight Pictures).

You give me a time and a place, I give you a five minute window. Anything happens in that five minutes and I'm yours. No matter what. Anything happens a minute either side of that and you're on your own. These are the basic set of rules that the driver gives In Nicolas Winding Refin’s Drive, a masterfully crafted a hyper stylized and brutal norie film. This work is a staple for movies that expertly use lighting music and expressions to say beyond what words ever could. The plot is simple, the Driver, played by Ryan Gosling, is a stunt driver/mechanic/getaway driver who falls for his new neighbor Irene, played by Carey Mulligan. Her husband, who was in jail, gets released and owes some people protection money. They want him to rob a pawn

Despite its notoriety as a horror film, Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining also deserves its praise as one of the most visually stunning films of all time. Kubrick’s ability to weave delicate repeating themes throughout the over 2-hour-long runtime is a testament to his skill as a director and is most aptly seen in The Shining. As the dominant setting, The Overlook Hotel is introduced to the viewer in the first scenes during Jack Torrance’s interview. However, Kubrick uses the “closing day” where the lodge will board up for the winter, as a chance to familiarize the viewer with the scene and foreshadow many of the horrors to come. While Stuart Ullman and Bill Watson take the Torrance’s on a tour of their new home, Kubrick leaves audio and visual clues of the terrors that await them throughout their stay. This scene stands as one of the most important developing scenes of the film and takes place after Jack has accepted his winter position at the hotel. Following an exacerbating long trek up the solitary drive to reach the lodge, Jack and his family reach their terrifying new abode and are introduced, simultaneously with the viewer, to the mysteries that lie inside.

Texas-born director, Wes Anderson began his career in 1996, producing films with a distinctive style and techniques that are eccentric and attentive to detail. Anderson generally directs fast- paced, adventurous comedies, which involve serious elements or key ideas such as grief, ‘children are more adult than adults’, broken relationships and family issues. Geometric concepts and framing, colour schemes, quirky characters, and specific camera movements accompany and help to develop themes that are developed throughout both films. Within three years, Anderson produced films ‘Moonrise Kingdom’ (2012) and Oscar winning ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ (2014). Moonrise kingdom tells the story of two youthful kids and their growing love story. Much like these characters in Moonrise Kingdom, the idea of change and development in character(s) is seen in The Grand Budapest Hotel where Zero begins at the hotel as a lobby boy, befriending hotel concierge, Gustave. Anderson said, “Usually when I’m making a movie, what I have in mind first, for the visuals, is how we can stage the scenes to bring them more to life in the most interesting way, and then how we can make a world for the story that the audience hasn’t quite seen before”. Aspects and techniques help to create his films and portray his specific style and key ideas.

For my movie report I selected Hotel Rwanda, which is based on the memoirs of Paul Rusesabagin, who was a hotel manager. The film tells the story of Mr. Rusesabagin using the hotel as almost a refugee camp for Tutsi’s and moderate Hutu’s, in order to survive the months of massacre following the death of Rwandan President, Juvénal Habyarimana. The movie sheds light onto the bleak reality that was faced by millions of people in Rwanda during the genocide. There are several issues that are addressed in the film regarding the genocide. I will mainly be focusing on the ideology of the perpetrators behind the genocide, one of the major reasons that some Hutu’s hated the Tutsi’s, and the international response to the genocide. The film had multiple ethical dilemmas that I will discuss later in the report, first I would like to provide some background on Rwanda.