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b_b  ·  3841 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The Grand Budapest Hotel - Discussion Thread

I doubt it. Maybe one can make an argument that a teenage girl might lighten the story a bit, but the force was even called the Zig Zags. If that's not supposed to be as cutesy as the Mexico-shaped birthmark on Agatha's face, then I've lost all ability to spot bullshit that I thought I had. I can't imagine we're supposed to suspend disbelief to such an extent as to think that the girl got the name of the force incorrect, as it should be a well documented part of history in that universe. Even with all that, I'd be willing to forgive if the movie had things like plot points, for example. Probably the worst thing I've seen in a Wes Anderson movie was the part where old Zero is crying about Agatha's death, an obvious indication that it's important in the story (see e.g. Chekhov's gun principle), but then it figures exactly 0% into the story (same goes for Gustave). The story isn't about sacrifice; it isn't about change; it isn't about mystery; so far as I can tell it is literally pointless. Hence, my critique about christmas ornaments, beautiful things that serve no purpose other than decoration and nostalgia. This movie is a live action cartoon (in fact, Anderson did voice overs for all the story boards himself long before the movie was shot, making it literally a cartoon) that lacks even the depth of a good Bugs Bunny classic.