Cinematic Techniques In The Grand Cairo Hotel By Wes Anderson

Wes Anderson’s fast paced film of 2014, The Grand Budapest Hotel, tells the story of Monsieur Gustave, a European hotel concierge, from the perspective of his protégé Zero. The film relays Gustave’s abilities, struggles, and relationships as he runs the Grand Budapest Hotel in the 1930s. Anderson plays and expands on the cinematic style of classical Hollywood to tell Gustave’s narrative. His use of the mise-en-scène, expansion of classic cinematography and old Hollywood banter add a second level of understanding to the narrative and help create Anderson’s enchanting world.
The mise-en-scène is a key element in The Grand Budapest Hotel. The mise-en-scène is the arrangement of everything within the frame: the setting, actors, lighting, coloring,

Each detail serves a purpose and adds to the mise-en-scène as a whole. In an interview with National Public Radio, Wes Anderson explained that “the editing…and the construction of the sets and the design of the sets… is all carefully planned…We gather all of the ingredients and we have it very prepared so that when the day comes to shoot, everything is sort of quite set in that way” (Gross). Anderson uses his symmetry to convey things about characters and the developing story. For example, symmetry is key in understanding the scenes between Madame and Gustave. Near the beginning of the film, Madame and Gustave dine in the middle of her hotel room, their table is placed in front of a window, and on either side of the window are identical pink walls. This symmetry is continued throughout the various shots of the room. The camera focuses on Madame, as she acts as the divider between two identical walls. In front of which are two identical lamps. However, this intense symmetry is broken when the camera focuses on Gustave who acts as a divider between two identical walls. In front of one of the walls is a table, but in front of the other is Zero,