Grand Budapest Hotel, Wes Anderson's stunning story set in a fictional Central European country, has taken home four Oscars: Production Design, Makeup & Hairstyling, Original Score and Costume Design. I'd thought it was a strong candidate for Best Screenplay and was a little surprised at the award for Best Score.
I'll come back to the score in a later post, after I've had time for a little research...
For now, I'd like to add a few remarks on costuming. In particular, I'm struck by the uniforms, which do have a certain period flair. U.S. News & World Report remarks on the "hints of history," in this piece. But I disagree somewhat that "Edward Norton plays the leader of a fascist army reminiscent of the Nazis in Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel." That caption falls under the following picture.
I'll come back to the score in a later post, after I've had time for a little research...
For now, I'd like to add a few remarks on costuming. In particular, I'm struck by the uniforms, which do have a certain period flair. U.S. News & World Report remarks on the "hints of history," in this piece. But I disagree somewhat that "Edward Norton plays the leader of a fascist army reminiscent of the Nazis in Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel." That caption falls under the following picture.
Granted, the thuggish "Zigzag Division" is meant to look like SS--in a humorous combination with the pink.
But the gray uniforms are an imitation of Austrian soldiers of the First World War. I'm not sure just what designer Milena Canonero had in mind, but I can't resist comparing with Jozef Lada's illustrations for The Good Soldier Švejk.
But the gray uniforms are an imitation of Austrian soldiers of the First World War. I'm not sure just what designer Milena Canonero had in mind, but I can't resist comparing with Jozef Lada's illustrations for The Good Soldier Švejk.
Another image from GBH for comparison. Credit: Fox Searchlight This 1921 novel was author Jaroslav Hašek's dark comedy about WWI. Švejk (pronounced shvake, rhymes with 'shake'), a good-natured, beer-swigging bumpkin is conscripted to fight for Austria-Hungary. Hašek satirizes that fact that the Czechs were part of this empire, but most felt little loyalty to it. He also pokes fun at authoritarianism and Austrian officers' disdain for the Czechs--"The entire Czech nation is a band of malingerers," says one. Švejk takes a passive-aggressive response, following orders literally to the point of driving superiors crazy. Czechs, long under Austrian domination, had adapted such practices as a means of survival, and Švejk quickly became the national personification of their nature.
RSS Feed