The trailer for Wes Anderson's "The French Dispatch" is now available, so I took this opportunity to make a special issue of his.
I categorized several of his representative works, which will be divided into upper, middle and lower, and will be introduced in three weeks.
Today's first article is also "The Grand Budapest Hotel" (The Grand Budapest Hotel) that I want to analyze separately, hereinafter referred to as "Budapest".
Frankly speaking, this is not my favorite of his works.
The reason why it started here is because the film involves an Austrian writer, Stefan Zweig (Stefan Zweig) .
As one of the best novelette writers in the world.
My favorite is his autobiographical memoir "Yesterday's World: Memories of a European", hereinafter referred to as "Yesterday's World".
In this article, I will reduce the technical and plot analysis of the work "Budapest", because this is really not a popular film. I will put more emphasis on Stephen Zweig and the world of yesterday.
First of all, from the aesthetic point of view, "Budapest" continues the usual style of ghost directors. Wes Anderson is a director who has formed a unique film aesthetic system. You can easily find his works in the vast sea of shadows.
The typical director of this type in China is Wang Jiawei, who has his own style.
For space reasons, the aesthetic style of the film will be discussed in the next two weeks.
We will focus on the script. Wes Anderson is good at writing and directing himself. The script of "Budapest" is his own work. I have always preferred this type of self-written and self-directed director, because the script is the key to the success or failure of a movie.
The book of "Budapest" is actually quite satisfactory. If you are confused, it is normal.
But this is definitely not a movie that knocks popcorn in a movie theater. Its core is the prosperity and decline of the European world.
Let us first return to the world in the movie . The movie uses flashbacks (different picture ratios are used to describe different eras, which is a very interesting viewing experience). The movie has a four-layer structure, one layer after another:
At the beginning of the first level , a young female book fan brought a book called "Budapest Hotel" to pay homage to a famous writer . She turned the book over to the back, which led to the second level.
The narrator on the second level is exactly when the writer was still alive. The elderly writer sat at the desk and told us how to write a good story, which led to the third level.
The third level, going back to decades ago, was the young period of this writer, and here is the background of his creation of "Budapest."
In August of the year, in order to concentrate on creating, he came to the "Budapest" Hotel under the Alps. This big hotel used to gather celebrities and was once brilliant.
Now it is dilapidated and close to bankruptcy.
Here, the writer met Mustafa, the current owner of the hotel:
"A middle-aged man with a sad atmosphere."
There are only a few people living here, alone. But Mustafa was the first real person who felt very lonely.
The hotel butler secretly told the author a secret, this rich man has a lot of assets in Europe.
But in the restaurant where he was almost empty, he only lived in the waiter room on the top floor.
The writer became very curious about him. By accident, Mustafa invited the writer to dinner.
During the dinner, I told him about the old days of this big hotel, leading to the fourth layer of structure, and the movie really began.
The beginning of the fourth level introduces the real protagonist of the film, Gustavo, the butler of "Budapest" at the time.
At the beginning, he bid farewell to his lover, Mrs. D, who had been with him for 19 years, a very wealthy widow of aristocracy.
This time the farewell rush revealed some unusual auras.
Here, the young Mustafa is also on the stage as a new door boy (Lobby boy).
Through Mustafa’s narration, we know that Gustavo is a delicate, gentleman, well-mannered, and charming middle-aged man.
As the absolute core of this big hotel, many guests come for it.
Here is one of his hobbies, that is, he never forgets to be an exquisite pig boy---spraying perfume.
Of course, he is not absolutely perfect. At the same time, there are a group of dedicated ladies and lovers, and occasionally there is a bit of stubbornness and neuroticism.
As a doorman (running errands), Mustafa portrayed the entire hotel for us from the inside out.
And expanded his emotional line, and the pastry chef in the local cake shop --- Agatha became happy with each other.
What follows is a major turning point in the whole movie, and the war is about to start.
While Mrs. D died bizarrely, Gustavo immediately took Mustafa to take the train to express his condolences.
Here, the train came to a sudden halt, which points to the background of the war.
They met Cha Gang on the train. Mustafa's refugee status was almost revealed.
Thanks to the help of Gustavo's old acquaintances, there was no danger in the end.
When they arrived at the lady's manor, the condolences were almost beginning.
Because of the old lady's wealth, in order to get a share of the pie, the farthest relatives also rushed to listen to the will. It turns out that the old lady is the owner behind the restaurant.
She is rich in the enemy's country, but the most valuable of all her assets is an oil painting titled "The Apple and the Boy".
In the will, she gave it to Gustavo free of charge. This caused the jealousy and hatred of the big villain, her son Dmitry.
Gustavo sneaked away the oil painting overnight.
But then he was persecuted by Dmitry and put in prison.
But in prison, he relied on his charisma to get the trust and support of a group of prisoners.
Started the escape plan.
The escape from prison was successful without any risk.
The details here are very interesting, that is, through a phone call, Gustavo connects hotel butlers from all over the world.
It shows Gustavo’s strong network. Since this role is a metaphor of Stephen Zweig (Jewish), here is actually a description of the strong cohesion of the Jewish nation.
And Dmitry and his minions began the final competition.
Just when the audience feels that the actor is going to take a break. Miraculously won the victory and inherited the old lady's property.
Because Gustavo had no descendants, Mustafa also successfully became his heir, married Agatha and gave birth to a child.
Just when we felt that everything was reunion, the director slapped it.
On the train again, this time without good luck and old acquaintances, Gustavo died under the gun of the army in order to protect Mustafa.
Just a few years later, Agatha and the child both died of the Prussian flu.
At this point, Mustafa became a real lonely man. The plot of the movie has basically ended.
There is actually a misunderstanding here. Although the movie is called "The Budapest Hotel", in fact, the background of the film is set in Germany, and the scene is also set in Germany.
The elements of military costumes that have appeared in the movie many times do not have any Hungarian characteristics, but rather German characteristics.
More deeply, the background is actually a metaphor for Vienna, Austria.
Why is it Austria and Vienna?
This is what I said at the beginning. The film was inspired by Stephen Zweig. In "The World of Yesterday", he described the city like this:
"So everyone knows that Vienna is a city for pleasure lovers."
"But, isn't the so-called culture that is woven with art and love to give the rude material life the most beautiful, warmest and purest color?"
"Enjoying food, drinking a bottle of fine wine and a bottle of fresh beer, tasting exquisite desserts and big cakes, it is a general enjoyment in this city."
"Being engaged in music, dancing, acting, and social activities, paying attention to appearance and demeanor, is a special kind of art here."
This is a very interesting city in the era where Zweig lived. People will not look at someone differently just because they are a politician or a wealthy businessman, but are enthusiastic about art and regard it as the most lofty status in society.
But we also have to consider Stephen Zweig's background. He came from a wealthy Jewish family in Austria and was also immersed in such a fanatical art and culture.
In his youth, he studied philosophy and literature in Vienna and Berlin. In addition to being a writer and scholar, he was also fascinated by art collection.
Let's take a look at how the then leader of the Nazi Party, Adolf Hitler, described the city:
"Vienna can only arouse unpleasant thoughts in my heart even to this day."
"To me, the name of this free and easy city represents five years of hard and poor life. During these five years, I was forced to seek a job and make ends meet, and my income was not small enough to fill my daily hunger."
"Hunger was my loyal partner at the time. He was inseparable from me and shared blessings. My life is a long-term struggle with this ruthless friend."
It is true that Vienna was prosperous and charming at the time, but this prosperity did not belong to the humble Adolf Hitler.
In this fierce contrast and contrast, Adolf Hitler single-handedly contributed to the later "Crystal Night" in Vienna:
In the early morning of November 9-10, 1938, the Hitler Youth League, the Gestapo and the SS attacked Jews in Germany and Austria.
The incident marked the beginning of the organized slaughter of Jews by the Nazis.
Someone once joked that Stephen Zwei may be Adolf Hitler's most hated writer, not one of them.
In Stephen Zweig's autobiographical memoirs in his later years, he used Shakespeare's "We are destined to meet this age" to describe his life experience:
After two wars in Europe, his works were banned from publication and destroyed due to political stances, his art collection was torched, and his property was confiscated by the Nazi Party.
Later he was persecuted, first in exile in various European countries, and finally abroad, where he committed suicide in Cuba.
Stephen Zweig is also the core soul of the whole movie. The writer is the "superficial" him, and his real incarnation is Gustavo.
Why is Gustavo the incarnation of Stephen Zweig?
The two are so alike.
As I mentioned earlier, Gustavo, what kind of person is he?
Exquisite, gentleman, cultivated, and charming.
He is also obviously imperfect, carefree and talkative, obsessive-compulsive disorder...
As for Stephen Zweig, he was born in a wealthy Jewish family, talented, gentle and delicate, and full of emotions.
I also have my own faults, I am immersed in my own spiritual world, love the world, and feel a little bit paranoid. So it ended up with suicide, which is a common problem of perfectionism.
At the end of the film, we return to the world of writers and Mustafa.
The writer asked him, "Is this the only connection between you and the disappearing world, and his world?"
"His world?"
"No, I stay here for Agatha."
"We have a happy life here, although there is only a short world."
"I think his world would have disappeared before he went to that world."
Here, the director uttered what was in his heart through Mustafa's mouth.
Whether it is Stephen Zweig or Gustavo, it belongs to their era, which has disappeared long before they died.
That free and beautiful era has long been burnt down in the flames of war.
The film is back to the second level. When the writer was old, he said,
"I haven't looked back to Europe for many years,"
"It's an ancient ruin with magical powers,"
"But I never saw it with my own eyes again."
It’s like Stephen Zweig’s monologue:
The home in my mind has long been burned in the flames of war.
That splendid, brilliant, yesterday's world.
The last scene of the film reads:
This film is inspired by Stephen Zweig's work:
He was born in Vienna in 1881; he died in Petropolis (Brazil) in 1942.
In "Yesterday's World", Stephen Zweig once described himself as follows:
"Since I was a teenager, the strongest instinctive desire in my heart has been to remain free and independent forever."
In my understanding, what he said is freedom and independence:
It means to always keep the soul free under any circumstances.
The freedom here is not freedom without law, but unfettered thinking and dreams.
Respect money and reputation, but don't become their slave.
Maintain a clear and independent personality, neither blindly follow the trend, nor be deceived.
The world belonging to yesterday has passed,
This is a brand new era, and it does not look so perfect.
But the time we live in,
It will always be, "The best times, the worst times."
The original text was first published in the column "Light and Shadow Life" and the WeChat public account "EMBERSTUDIO"
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