Tools of Characterization

Characterization in The Grand Budapest Hotel

Names

Characters' names can tell us all sorts of things about them… and so can their lack of names. The Author plays a central role, at least to the telling of the story, yet we never know what to call him. Why no name, Author?

This deliberate anonymity serves a couple of purposes.

For one thing, the Author is supposed to be Stefan Zweig, an Austrian writer whose works influenced the movie. However, because the Author is more inspired by Zweig than based on him, it wouldn't be fitting to actually pin him with the name "Zweig."

In another sense, the Author is supposed to be us, the audience. We see him listening to Mustafa's original narration. He's an audience surrogate; he's learning of the story even as we are.

The Author isn't the only person with a notably absent name. Check out "Zero" (which has to be the cruelest name ever given to a baby). Just like his education, prior experience, and remaining family, Zero is a zero, an absence more than a presence. His name tells us that he is nobody, just a boy trying to make it in a foreign land.

Basically Zero's the opposite of the Desgoffe und Taxis family, who, like their name, have a wealth both of history and of possession. Desgoffe may come from French painter Blaise Alexandre Desgoffe, whose art may bear an air of resemblance to Boy with Apple, but the name as a whole, is used to sound excessively fancy. This is some not-so-subtle poking fun at an upper-class sense of value tied to heredity. Well played, Anderson.

Speech and Dialogue

Actions may speak louder than words, but Gustave's words tend to speak more loudly—and more colorfully—than any action possibly could. Really, any exposition Mustafa gives us is almost unnecessary because as soon as Gustave opens his mouth we know what kind of man he is.

He's direct with orders but verbose in conversation. He talks quickly. Even though he has an affected manner of formality, he dips into vulgarity every now and again as if to gain the momentum necessary to maintain his usual elevation.

Clothing

When you close your eyes and picture Gustave and Zero, we're sure you see them in their deep purple Grand Budapest outfits, which are so lush and lavish they appear to be serving only royalty (maybe that's the point).

In their esteemed hotel, these outfits blend perfectly into the lighter pinks of the hotel interior. However, the moment you take them out of their natural environment and place them, say, in an old, depressing house filled with deep browns and a giant oil painting of a huge black boar, they stand out like a sore thumb. Every other guest in Madame D's mansion is wearing black… except for our protagonists.