"The Grand Budapest Hotel" Is Next FOLA Comedy Movie, May 9

"The Grand Budapest Hotel" Is Next FOLA Comedy Movie, May 9

"The Grand Budapest Hotel", comedic-tragedy film, will be FOLA's next movie on Saturday, May 9 at the Ludlow Town Hall Auditorium at 7 PM.

The Grand Budapest Hotel is a 2014 comedy film directed by Wes Anderson. The screenplay by Anderson is from a story by Anderson and Hugo Guinness, inspired by the writings of Stefan Zweig. It stars Ralph Fiennes as a concierge who teams up with one of his employees (Tony Revolori) to prove his innocence after he is framed for murder.

The Grand Budapest Hotel was released to general acclaim from film critics, and many included it in year-end top 10 lists. The film led the BAFTA nominations, with 11 nominations, more than any other film, including Best Film and Best Director for Anderson, and Best Actor for Fiennes. The film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and garnered three more Golden Globe Award nominations, including Best Director for Anderson. It also garnered nine Academy Award nominations, the joint most (with Birdman) for the ceremony, including Best Picture and Best Director. It won the Academy Awards for Best Production Design, Best Original Score, Best Costume Design and Best Makeup and Hairstyling.

Fans of Wes Anderson will undoubtedly check into “The Grand Budapest Hotel” as soon as possible, but the filmmaker’s latest attempt at confectionary cinema has enough appeal (both in story and star power) to pull in a fresh audience looking for a murder mystery with some flair and fun to it.

Anderson’s film flows between three timeframes – present day, 1968 and 1932, using period-appropriate aspect ratios for each (the boxy nature of the 1.37:1 ratio, used for the earliest parts of the story, is at first a distraction to modern minds and then a pleasure) – and is the story of a now-weathered author (present day) recounting a favorite story (that he heard in 1968) from a man who lived it in 1932. That story is centered on the early adventures of the Grand Budapest’s cherished concierge M. Gustave H (Ralph Fiennes) and young lobby boy Zero (the storyteller of 1968), and it occasionally switches back and ties into the action of the film’s other time periods, rounding out a richly imagined mythology.

M. Gustave H is a bit of a dandy – immaculately dressed, fully attuned to his job, generously perfumed and intimately involved with many of the hotel’s more age-advanced patrons – and he is beloved by both staff and guests.

The movie is open to the public and is free; donations are appreciated. Popcorn will be provided courtesy of Berkshire Bank; FOLA will provide free water. For information, call 802-228-7239 or go to www.fola.us.