A look into the works of Wes Anderson
It was once part of my weekly ritual to visit the local video store, scan the shelves of their ‘comedy’ section and come away feeling significantly less inspired than before. In my downtime, I would also find myself fixated by chains of homogenous movie trailers, which left me in a state of monotony. Never could I understand how these comedy movies were ever viewed as forms of ‘art’; that is, until the summer of 2012, when I encountered my first Wes Anderson film.
The one DVD cover that grabbed my attention was filled with familiar actors amidst aquatic colours and an abundance of yellow Futura typeface. The movie in question was The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004); a striking film for my untrained eyes, illustrating the endeavours of the Jacques-Yves Cousteau-like oceanographer Steve Zissou (played by Bill Murray). During the production of his latest documentary, Zissou had captured the death of the faithful Esteban du Plantier to a murderous ‘Jaguar Shark’. This incites Zissou’s pursuit of vengeance on the shark in his next production; however the journey, as with most of Anderson’s narratives, spirals into a rollicking, humorous adventure.
Previously, I had not seen comedy presented in such a whimsical and idiosyncratic fashion. The film is saturated with concepts that mock some of life’s most bleak (and often tragic) affairs. The Life Aquatic incorporates domestic disputes, death, and fatherhood, in a manner that parodies reality, through the incongruous and flippant behaviour of Anderson’s characters. I believe that this is a highly unique representation of individual characters within film. After a taste of this somewhat artificial world, I was desperate for more.
Anderson’s films exemplify the term ‘aesthetically pleasing’ through... The rest of this article is available to subscribers of Eyeline
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, 2004. Courtesy Touchstone Pictures.
The Grand Budapest Hotel, 2014. Film still. Courtesy Fox Searchlight Pictures.
