Director Wes Anderson’s latest film caricatures the bygone splendour of old Europe, with its beautiful hotels and coffee houses. Budapest is an excellent example: think of its opulent architecture and interiors such as the New York Coffee House, Café Gerbeaud and the Corinthia Hotel. The metropolis by the Danube will of course gain some added exposure from its identification with the film. The Corinthia Hotel Budapest has presented an exclusive pre-premiere of Anderson’s imaginative satire.
In the movie the luxurious establishment where most of the story unfolds is located in a small village surrounded by the Alps, in the heart of the fictional country Zubrowka. All aspects of the film from the nationality of the major characters to the deadly disease called Prussian Flu are imaginary – or at least so it seems. Surely no one will try to find Zubrowka on the map but with a bit of investigation we might be able to find the example on which Grand Budapest Hotel has been based. For a start, there’s that clue in the name – Budapest.
Could Corinthia Hotel have been the example?
Several of the city’s hotels might like to claim that they were the model for this entertaining story. Which is the true Grand Budapest Hotel though? After removing from the list of contenders those hotels that are obviously too new, too small or too unknown, only two really remain in contention: the Corinthia Hotel and the Gellért Hotel. The Corinthia opened in 1896 under the name Grand Hotel Royal. The similarity of the name may be a clue, plus the Grand Hotel Royal was one of the most modern and elegant hotels in Europe at the time. And what about the fact that old drawings of the hotel before it was destroyed by fire in 1953 are actually very similar to the building depicted on the movie poster?
Almost like in the movie
Not only are there these similarities: Tamás Ungvar, the head concierge in Corinthia, apparently has also fulfilled a couple of unusual wishes for guests.
All in all, the Grand Budapest Hotel seems to be a mixture of many old and great European hotels. Adam Stockhausen, the scene designer, admitted that during the design he was inspired by the Grandhotel Pupp in Bohemian Carlsbad. Further, Wes Anderson officially denied that there is any direct connection between his hotel and Budapest. The name had been chosen only by chance. The American defended his choice by reminding us that we have a New York Café in Budapest.
Corinthia would still like to benefit from the exceptional marketing opportunity: at the pre-premiere party the guests enjoyed selected culinary treats and hotel general manager Thomas M. Fischer emphasised that the Grand Hotel Royal always had a close connection to the film industry. The Lumiére brothers presented their first motion pictures in Budapest there. Later there was even a movie theatre established in the hotel, called the Royal Apollo, renamed Red Star Movie after the Second World War.
What reminds us of Hungary
Even if we cannot find the model for the Grand Budapest Hotel here, there are some references to Hungary. The character played by Bill Murray is called M. Ivan, which can be interpreted as “Mi van?” (“What’s up?”). And the Hungarian character Vilmos Kovacs, played by Jeff Goldblum, killer of the quirky Madame D., is a tribute to former Hungarian film producers László Kovács and Vilmos Zsigmond.
No matter if the film shows Budapest, Görlitz or some other city – like they say: all publicity is good publicity.
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