Tom Hanks names his favourite Wes Anderson movie: “Blew me away”
American indie cinema boomed in the 1990s, allowing many filmmakers to emerge from the cracks, presenting movies that opposed the traditional Hollywood formula. After making a short in 1994 called Bottle Rocket, Wes Anderson transformed it into a feature-length indie movie two years later. Despite being relatively unsuccessful at the box office, it established Anderson as a unique directorial talent.
Since then, he has excelled as one of modern cinema’s most distinctive filmmakers, crafting a signature style that is recognisable to even the most casual film fan. Movies like The Royal Tenenbaums, Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Fantastic Mr Fox have cemented his status as an auteur, retaining a distinctive aesthetic regardless of whether he’s working with live-action or animation.
It is pretty easy to tell when Anderson has been involved in a project. A strong use of symmetry, saturated or pastel colours, vintage aesthetics and kooky characters are just some of his signature traits. Taking significant inspiration from movies by the likes of Jean-Luc Godard, Anderson’s cinematic style has spawned books and exhibitions, including ‘Accidentally Wes Anderson’.
He is also known for repeatedly working with the same actors, such as Owen and Luke Wilson, Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray, Adrien Brody, Bryan Cranston and Edward Norton. By building up a close rapport with certain actors, Anderson allows them to feel more comfortable on the job, appearing to write parts with them in mind. Thus, there is a real sense of love and community that emanates from every Anderson film, nurtured through repeated collaboration.
However, that doesn’t mean the director isn’t opposed to putting other actors into his work. For Asteroid City, the ensemble cast featured many Anderson regulars, but it also saw some new faces join Anderson’s world. One of these was Tom Hanks, one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. In the retro-futuristic movie, he played Stanley Zak, the father-in-law of Jason Schwartzman’s Augie.
But what is Hanks’ favourite Anderson movie? When asked by IndieWire, he revealed his particular fondness for the director’s 2014 film The Grand Budapest Hotel. The movie found particular acclaim upon its release, with many critics declaring it Anderson’s best work to date. Set in the 1930s, the movie follows Ralph Fiennes’ Monsieur Gustave H. as he gets himself into all kinds of bizarre and humorous situations after he is framed for murder. There is an emphasis on human connection and friendship, which is particularly poignant because the film is set against a backdrop of burgeoning fascism.
“I’m going to say, the thing that really blew me away, cause I saw it in the best of all motion picture circumstances – a huge screen in a massive theatre in Berlin with some people who worked on the crew – was The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Hanks explained. “I’d just never seen a movie like The Grand Budapest Hotel,” he continued, “I thought it was the best movie for five years.”
Certainly, Hanks wasn’t alone in that thought. The film made it onto countless ‘best of’ lists, and it ended up winning four Oscars, including ‘Best Costume Design’, ‘Best Production Design’ and ‘Best Original Score’. For many Anderson fans, The Grand Budapest Hotel is unbeatable.
