Ralph fiennes
The Grand Budapest Hotel is presented as a Chaucerian device, with Zero recounting his memories of M. Gustave from thirty years earlier. To Zero, M. Gustave is the flamboyant manager of the Grand Budapest. His most frequent customers are elderly women, who, in their waning years, enjoy being reminded of their beauty and sexual allure, which M. Gustave happily provides. Behind M. Gustave’s puppy-dog eyes and tender smiles, though, there are signs that his world is coming to an end — 1930s fascist soldiers are roaming the train cars, the Grand Budapest’s clientele are dying off, and it’s nearly impossible to find good lobby boys anymore. M. Gustave knows he’s a dinosaur in a new age of Futurism and political dictatorship. But he remains steadfast in his virtues that loyalty begets loyalty, a true gentleman is in service to all. The role of M. Gustave needed an actor who could instantly take control of any situation, be the star of any scene, because that’s how Zero remembers him. Enter Ralph Fiennes. Fiennes uses every bit of his prestigious acting experience to portray a man of subtlety, wit, and a talent for delivering understated insults. In The Grand Budapest Hotel, Fiennes is a conversationalist entertainer. Everything he says, how it’s spoken, is larger than life — a man who feels as though he can’t possibly be real for all of his eccentricities. But Fiennes brings M. Gustave to life, the way Zero — and Wes Anderson — wanted him to be remembered.