Wes Anderson’s 2014 hit The Grand Budapest Hotel stunned audiences with its deeply touching story while still maintaining Anderson’s colorful fairytale aesthetic and mood. The story follows the grandiose concierge M. Gustave (played by Ralph Fiennes) and his timid lobby boy Zero Moustafa (played by Tony Revolori and F. Murray Abraham) as they try to operate The Grand Budapest Hotel in Lutz, Zubrowka and try to escape from murderers in the Boy With Apple Painting scandal. With romance, a prison break, the discovery of true friendship, and murder, the characters constantly jump from scene to scene with the everlasting light drumbeat and triangle in the background.
The academy award-winning score for this film, composed by the award-winning Alexandre Desplat, can teach the listener about a few of the key elements to composing a great score. Namely, it shows how to create a fitting atmosphere and how to pull reactions from the audience.
The movie opens with peaceful male choir music (1. S’Rothe-Zäuerli by Öse Schuppel, Link: Song Link 1) that brings you to the mountains where the movie takes place through its “yodeling” influences. The elegance and peacefulness of the piece create a serene and calm opening. By 3:36, the main theme (3. Mr. Moustafa by Alexandre Desplat, Link: Song Link 2) comes in with the opening shots of the hotel’s interior. A number of shots roll by, each with an interesting guest at the hotel. As the song picks up in volume and intensity, the viewer begins to see the hotel as a quirky and eclectic gathering place, quietly set in the mountains of this imaginary Eastern European country. However, Anderson and Desplat indicate that not all is well by 9:39 as the composition becomes more ominous and stressful as M. Gustave’s elderly lover Madame D foresees her own death (5. A Prayer for Madame D, Link: Song Link 3). The murder of Madame D starts a wild series of events that dictate the course of the rest of the film. For the film’s duration, Mr. Moustafa and A Prayer For Madame D return in different variations depending on who is on screen. For example, when the meddling, murdureous son of Madame D, Dmitri (played by Adrien Brody), enters a scene, a dramatic organ is added to the tracks.
These songs all prominently feature the balalaika, a guitar-like instrument of Russian and Slavic origin. Including this Eastern European instrument plays a large role in creating the movie’s setting and atmosphere. It brings all scenes to life whether they appear in the town, in the monastery, in the wintery estate, or in the ski hill chase scene.
Desplat also teaches the listener about silence in a film. Whenever a punchline or suspenseful moment comes, all sounds suddenly stop for a moment. For example, at 15:29, the music breaks off as a character asks why all the women that M. Gustave dates are blonde. The same technique is used at 52:55, when a character is being stalked by one of the murderers, organ chords build up and overlap until it cuts off and the murderer kills him. These interactive and playful uses of music grab the audience and make the score a key element and a character of its own as it changes with certain characters or actions.
Alexandre Desplat uses the film’s score to create a playful atmosphere and develop the film’s comedy while also driving its more passionate moments. I encourage you to listen to the soundtrack, watch the movie with these things in mind, and listen to the soundtrack a day or two later. I find that you will grow to really appreciate the genius of it as I have!
I will leave you with (27. Canto at Gabelmeister’s Peak by Alexandre Desplat) which goes from a scene in a monastery to a murder in the monastery and finally to a huge chase scene down the ski hill which ends on a cliff edge. Listen for the monastery choir, the organ with the murderer, the balalaika and horn solos in the chase, and finally the drum heartbeat at the end. Link: Song Link 4
Thanks for reading and I will see you later on Scoring the Score!
Here are my notes from watching the film. It marks interesting moments when the music changes with their timestamps.
Photo Credits:
Figure 1: The Rushmore Academy
Figure 2: Mountain Cinema
Figure 3: Slate Magazine
I do not own any of the music. All music owned by Alexandre Desplat and Fox Searchlight Pictures.
As a lover of movie scores, it was great to listen to one I have never heard before, especially by a musician who I recognize. I have previously listened to Alexandre Desplat’s score of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2, so I really liked being able to listen to more of his work. Now that I have listened to two of his scores, I am able to see his variety in music styles. Listening to this score made me really want to see the movie because of all the changes in tempo within the score. I also really enjoyed hearing the organ playing because I feel it is an instrument that really creates an ominous mood. It was also nice to see another Harry Potter connection, as Ralph Fiennes (who plays Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter series) also appears in this movie. I can’t wait to hear more scores!