M.6 COLOR + ENVIRONMENT

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

BY WES ANDERSON

M.6 COLOR + ENVIRONMENT Film Analysis

SUMMARY

The Grand Budapest Hotel, led by concierge Monsieur Gustave H., was a prominent European ski resort in the 1930s. Gustave makes Zero, a junior lobby boy, his friend and protégé. Gustave takes pride in delivering firstclass service to the hotel’s visitors, which includes meeting the sexual requirements of the hotel’s many elderly female guests. When one of Gustave’s lovers mysteriously dies, he inherits a valuable painting and becomes the prime suspect in her murder. The movie is shown in two different time periods. Two in which Wes Anderson portrayed them in two different color schemes. The scenes from the 1930s have a color scheme of pastel colors, most prominent is the color pink, which is the color of the Budapest Hotel. The 1960s have a color scheme of warm colors, most prominent is the color orange. The two color schemes help the viewer to easily see the change of the two time periods.

1930s

1960s

The red is introduced at the beginning of part 1. The colors red and purple are introduced in the film when Gustave H. and Zero appear, therefore these colors have been prominent in these two characters.

Anderson saturated the colors throughout the film making them more vibrant. The red is used in the lobby, and specially the elevator. The purple is seen as the concierge and lobby boy’s uniform.

RED and PURPLE

ORANGE

The warm colors are seen mostly throughout the 1960s time frames. The renovated Grand Budapest’s lobby is now orange, making it the predominant color in the scenes. The concierge is still using the purple uniform, creating an amazing contrast with the orange background.

Darker colors are introduced in the funeral and in the prison.

BLUE and GRAY

From warm colors, Anderson switches to cool tones. Blue and gray are introduced when Zero is visiting Gustav in jail. These colors are also used especially in the snow, to create a cooler scene.

These colors are used to emphasize the colors from the military.

The film’s preliminary color is pink. From the Grand Budapest to the Mendl’s boxes. The movie’s pink accents are soft to the viewer’s eye, which makes the movie easily enjoyable. Anderson used pastel blue to contrast the pink throughout the film. The blue in these scenes are used in Mendl’s workers uniforms and the box ribbon.

PINK

SOURCES

https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/wes-anderson-color-palette/ https://movietime.guru/the-grand-budapest-hotel-a-dissection-ofcolour-style-60203b3eab13 http://theblakesociety.weebly.com/blog/wes-anderson-and-a-lot-of-pink https://abbiericeyfilm.wordpress.com/2018/05/23/the-grandbudapest-hotel-colour-analysis/