| 1985. An author recounts how he heard the tale of the Grand Budapest Hotel, cut to 1968. The author travels to Zubrowka and to the hotel, where he sees Zero lingers in the lobby; Zero is the owner; after a time, Zero invites the author to dinner to tell him the his tale and that of the hotel. In 1932, teen Zero begins working as a lobby boy, with concierge Gustave as his mentor (who himself began as a lobby boy). Gustave tended to guests every need, but tended to also tend to the elderly women's womanly needs as well. After one, Madame D., at her home, Gustave rushes to her estate -- after being manhandled by the latest military authority on the train -- and at the estate learns she left him a painting ('Boy with Apple'); he promptly removes the painting and departs the estate, hanging a vulgar painting in its place; the painting is hidden. Before too long, Gustave is accused of murdering Madame by poison (by her family), is arrested, imprisoned, and after aligning with other inmates, they all escape; the family's henchman Jopling is tracking them and killing others along the way. There is a second copy of Madame's second will, which vindicates Gustave, and leaves him the painting and a big part of her fortune. The hotel prospers, Gustave becomes the owner and promotes Zero to concierge. Zero and Agatha marry, but she and the child die in childbirth two years later. Zero and Gustave travel on a train, yet another military authority challenge them, Gustave again runs his mouth, and is taken off the train and we're told he's shot. Back in the present, the author asks why he's kept the financially failing hotel. He repies it's a tribute to Agatha and the best years of his life. We close with a woman closing the book she was reading (penned by the author) at the cemetery (where the film began).
A recounting of the adventures of Gustave, a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the two world wars, and Zero, the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend.
The story involves the theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance painting and the battle for an enormous family fortune -- all against the back-drop of a suddenly and dramatically changing Continent. |
|
