The Grand Budapest Hotel

Wes Anderson is essentially a royal member of the Criterion Collection family, as only a handful of years often separate the release of one of his films and its eventual debut in this notable home distributor. Next on the list is his 2014 film "The Grand Budapest Hotel," which now marks the eighth work of the filmmaker to get stamped with the Criterion seal of approval.

The story of 'Grand Budapest' follows a concierge of the titular establishment, M. Gustave (Ralph Fiennes), and his young prot�g� Zero (Tony Revolori). Set in Europe between the two world wars, "The Grand Budapest Hotel" features a quirky assortment of character actors throughout its caper-esque storytelling, including F. Murray Abraham, Adrien Brody, Saoirse Ronan, Willem Dafoe, Jude Law, Harvey Keitel, Jeff Goldblum, Mathieu Amalric, Tilda Swinton, and Bill Murray.

While not one of Anderson's best in a storytelling sense, the film is arguably the director's best-looking work to date. It's filled with amazing colors and fully realized set pieces, which are brought to life in one of the Criterion release's most engaging bonus features – selected-scene storyboard animatics. With these 25 minutes of animated storyboards narrated by Anderson, viewers get a glimpse into the visual weight of the film's design and it's a truly rewarding experience. Also worth checking out is a making-of documentary, new interviews with the cast and crew, and video essays from 2015 and 2020 by critic Matt Zoller Seitz and film scholar David Bordwell.

As is a staple of the Criterion Collection's supplemental offerings, the audio commentary for 'Grand Budapest' is great, bringing together Anderson, filmmaker Roman Coppola, critic Kent Jones and actor Jeff Goldblum together for a lovely auditory ride through the film.

Additional bonus features include:

� Behind-the-scenes, special-effects, and test footage
� Trailer
� A 2014 essay by critic Richard Brody and a collectible poster, along with (on the Blu-ray) excerpts from an additional 2014 piece by Brody, an 1880 essay on European hotel portiers by Mark Twain, and other ephemera

"The Grand Budapest Hotel"
Blu-ray
$27.96
https://www.criterion.com/films/29601-the-grand-budapest-hotel