The Understanding and Experiences Behind What Is

Considered Beautiful: A Study of Wes Anderson’s ‘Aesthetic’ in The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

Luella Worrow

My dissertation highlights the different elements used to create a specific aesthetic the film is recognised for. I study them as objects, but how they are depicted, layered into the film, to understand the reasons behind why the film impacts our idea of beauty in the visuals and story.

Applied to the origin of aesthetic theory, I aim to establish why the film is seen as a piece of art. Originally, aesthetic value was only applied to the physical object, and meant beauty. Connections between classical, modern, and post-modern theory determine how the word ‘aesthetic’ is contextualised. Walter Benjamin says film as a material undermines the experience of the viewer because of the ability to manipulate what we see. I scrutinise characters and the plot, set design, colour, costume, alongside elements like the time-period, and religious aspects. I look at how the physical and methodological elements work together to create the aesthetic in the modern age.

People can find beauty in sadness and tragedy. The stark comparison makes us feel deeply, and impacts the intensity of our feelings throughout the film. Making assumptions due to reference of time periods (such as the main artwork involved in the story’s conflict, Boy With Apple, we take our own knowledge learnt before, about the effect of the war, the sadness, and compare this with the great things such as little love, fantasy, art, and childhood nostalgia, all from this story told to us from a fake book. Themes supported by visual things like colour, and costumes, beautiful or not in their own, make us appreciate the beauty of the story, and the good or evil characters depicted. The film makes us question our morals and what our own reception of beauty really is. Maybe beauty is in tragedy all along.

Dissertation Supervisors 2022-2023

Dr Verity Clarkson

Dr Veronica Isaac

Dr Yunah Lee

Dr Charlotte Nicklas

Dr Ceren Özpınar

Dr Megha Rajguru

Dr Eliza Tan

Dr Claire Wintle

BA (Hons) History of Art and Design

Georgia May Adshead

Trinity Madden

Katie Musgrove

Ivana Simonovicova

Irene Zajmann

BA (Hons) Fashion and Dress History

Max Harding-Jones

Nhung Hoffman

Martha McChesney

Katy Meade

Isobel O’Brien

Sid Upton

BA (Hons) Visual Culture

Martha Doyle

Kevin Hayes

Renee Keeffe

Ellie Taylor

Hollie Whitehead

Luella Worrow

The University of Brighton community of Arts and Humanities courses, staff and student evolved from the Brighton School of Art founded in 1859.

For 2023-24 entry, the History of Art and Design programme offers the following degrees:

BA (Hons) Art History and Visual Culture

BA (Hons) Fashion and Design History

MA History of Design and Material Culture

MA Curating Collections and Heritage

We welcome applications for doctoral (PhD) research in the history of art and design, material culture and related topics, with some places eligible for funding.

For further information, please contact the university on 01273 644644, enquiries@brighton.ac.uk or visit the University of Brighton website: brighton.ac.uk

To follow History of Art and Design programme activities and communications, please see: blogs.brighton.ac.uk/hoad twitter.com/hoadbrighton instagram.com/hoad_brightonuni

This catalogue has been designed by Jo Harrison jo-harrison.co.uk