The Grand Budapest Hotel
Stasis
In order to concentrate on his work, Jude Law went to the Budapest Hotel, where he met its owner, Moustafa, who invited him to dinner, where he told him about the past and present life of the grand, weathered hotel. The hotel was once owned by Monsieur Gustave H., and the young Moustafa was just a porter following him at the time. The conversation leads to the real protagonist of the film, Monsieur Gustave H.
Trigger
Monsieur Gustave H., a man of integrity and shrewdness, ran and organised the Grand Budapest Hotel, which became one of the leading resorts of the time, and his love affair with the elderly Mrs D., who, on her death, left a valuable painting to Monsieur Gustave H. in her will. This act angered her son Dmitri, and so began the doom of the Grand Budapest Hotel and Gustave.
The quest
Shortly after Madame D.’s last visit to the hotel, Monsieur Gustave H. learns of her mysterious death from Zero Moustafa. He and Zero then went to her estate, Schloss Lutz, to pay their respects and met her surviving relatives listening to Deputy Vilmos Kovacs, a lawyer, read out the will. Kovacs read out the latest addendum to the will bequeathing a priceless Renaissance painting, The Apple Boy, to Gustave. Monsieur Gustave H. and Zero Moustafa leave and escape with the painting as a safety precaution.
Surprise
Back at the Grand Budapest Hotel, Monsieur Gustave H. is arrested for the murder of Madame D. During his time in prison, he becomes friends with a group of prisoners who secretly organise an escape plan. Zero Moustafa’s girlfriend Agatha is an apprentice at Mendl’s, so Zero Moustafa puts the digging tools given to Monsieur Gustave H. into the pastries she makes. Gustave and the others chiselled their way out and then the stars flew apart. When Zero Moustafa and Monsieur Gustave H. were reunited, they began to assist the Society of the Crossed Keys, a group of concierges, to prove Monsieur Gustave H.’s innocence. They learned that Madame had a second will, which was only valid at the time of her murder, but had been lost.
Critical choice
Monsieur Gustave H., Zero Moustafa and Agatha return to the Grand Budapest Hotel, but find that it has long since been turned into a military headquarters. Agatha then quietly sneaks in to collect The Apple Boy. As she was about to leave, Dmitri happened to enter the hotel and found her with the painting.
Climax
Monsieur Gustave H. and Zero Moustafa rush to save Agatha from harm when she has escaped from Dmitri’s clutches. He opens fire on them and engages in a fierce (but confusing) gun battle with the Zube Roca forces. Agatha’s attempt to escape results in her and Zero Moustafa hanging from the terrace before falling safely onto a van full of pastries.
Reversal
Madame’s second copy of her will, which is affixed to the back of The Apple Juvenile, reads that Monsieur Gustave H. is to be made the beneficiary of the estate. He succeeded her as owner of the Grand Budapest Hotel and became one of the richest men in Zubroka.
Resolution
While returning by train, Monsieur Gustave H., Zero Moustafa and Agatha encounter a soldier and tear up Zero Moustafa’s refugee card. monsieur Gustave H. tries to dispatch the soldier and is shot dead by the soldier. Zero, as the only heir of Monsieur Gustave H.’s husband, thus inherits his estate. Agatha and their infant child died of disease and in Agatha’s memory he kept the Grand Budapest Hotel, now in a state of decay.