Wes Anderson plays with aspect ratio in 'Grand Budapest Hotel' trailer
Posted Thursday, October 17, 2013 at 3:32 PM Central
Last updated Thursday, October 17, 2013 at 3:43 PM Central
by John Couture
I would put Wes Anderson and Kevin Smith in the same boat as directors. No one would ever confuse the two's works as Wes is one of the leading visual directors of our time and, well, Kevin once moved the camera that one time.
But where they do overlap is in their devout audiences. They each have a ferocious fan base who would defend their leader to the death if necessary and if you don't fall into said fan base, you're often left scratching your head at their work.
In other words, you either get their stuff or you don't. If I were drawing a Venn diagram of the two fan bases, I bet there would be a pretty big overlap. I would consider myself in this overlap group although way over on the Kevin Smith side as you are all well aware.
I enjoy Wes Anderson's films for their sheer visual brilliance, but at times I do get the feeling in some of his films that I'm being talked down to. Overall though, I really enjoy his films and his next film, The Grand Budapest Hotel might end up being my favorite of the bunch.
Set in a grand European hotel between World War I and World War II, the story follows the hotel's concierge and loyal lobby boy through their misadventures. To help convey the feel of the time period, Wes seems to be playing with aspect ratio to give it a more authentic feel, at least in the trailer.
The majority of the trailer is presented in 4:3, or 1.33:1, aspect ratio, but there are a few shots, namely the name inserts for F. Murray Abraham, Jude Law, Jason Schwartzman and Tom Wilkinson, that presented in a more widescreen 2.35:1 ratio. It makes you wonder if the entire film will be presented in the more archaic 4:3 or just parts of it or if the whole aspect ratio gag is simply for the trailer.
Whatever the case, it works for me. Maybe Wes Anderson simply caught that most excellent video that we featured on the history of aspect ratios in Hollywood and this was his homage. Either way, this was the most pleasing trailer that I've seen in a great while.