64th Berlin Film Festival opens with Wes Anderson's eccentric tragicomedy Grand Budapest Hotel

Imagine an old-fashioned sophisticated comedy, but filmed with modern speed, in the colourful and baroque style of a richly detailed comic strip full of plots and escapes, rounded off with a perfume of melancholy. Then you come close to The Grand Budapest Hotel, the new film by Wes Anderson (The Royal Tenenbaums, Fantastic Mr Fox, Moonrise Kingdom) This assured the Berlin Film Festival (6 - 16 February) an opening with a festive yet unconventional feel.

In terms of eccentricity, this adventure of the concierge (Ralph Fiennes) of a posh 1930s hotel is unlikely to be surpassed at this 64th Berlinale. In terms of design and imagination, it is one of Anderson's most far-reaching exercises. For the story, he drew inspiration from the work of Austrian writer Stefan Zweig, but it is equally fair to say that here he emerges as a modern follower of the first film magician Georges Méliès. Anderson himself mentioned Sanley Kubrick as one of his heroes at the press conference, but that is far from exhausting the references and sources of inspiration. Also historical, as it is set in a fictional central European state in the 1930s that has to deal with bellicose neighbours strongly reminiscent of the Nazis. It's quite a lot all around, and perhaps even too much of a good thing. Because it's great to see how Anderson once again manages to create his own unique world with abandon, but after all, do you have enough in hand when the intoxication is over?

One has to admit, though, that the fun in filmmaking shines through. As became clear at the animated press conference, he manages to evoke a sense of family among his crew during filming. When asked how he manages to pull such a unique company of actors (Ralph Fiennes, Jude Law, Edward Norton, Tilda Swinton and many more) to his tune, Bill Murray replied, "Because he promises us long working days and a meagre salary."

On his own, Anderson has thus already delivered much of the stars and well-known actors present this Berlinale. Now yes, because The Monuments Men has been added to the competition George Clooney is also coming. Other than that, there are few competition films this year that pique curiosity beforehand, though of course few household names need not mean there are no fine discoveries among them. And the addition (out of competition) to the competition programme of the feature-length version of Lars von Trier's already amply spotlighted Nymphomaniac I (the director's cut with more sex) seems mostly a knee-jerk reaction to Von Trier's marketing machine.

The competition has a strong European accent this year, although Eastern Europe is missing. There is also no Dutch competition film, but in the supporting programmes our country is very decently represented. Supernova by Tamar van de Dop and Above Us All by Eugenie Jansen has been selected for the youth section and will premiere in Berlin. The curious Last Hijack by Tommy Pallotta and Femke Wolting (the story of a Somali pirate in a hybrid of docu and animation) opens the Panorama Dokumente section. Also selected are Mid-Winter Night, Finn and several short films and co-productions. Marwan Kenzari (Wolf) is the Dutch Shooting Star, one of ten young talents to be highlighted in Berlin.