The French Dispatch: A Culmination of Wes Anderson’s Interests
“Cinema is an art form that brings you the unexpected” (Martin Scorsese, “I Said Marvel Movies Aren’t Cinema: Let Me Explain”).
Ambitions
Wes Anderson gets more and more ambitious with every project he tackles. In the past decade, he wrote, directed, and produced four movies: Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Isle of Dogs, and The French Dispatch. Each new addition to his filmography features impressive technical achievements in addition to strong narrative and directing choices. Despite his films averaging a budget of twenty-five million dollars, Anderson never ceases to wow critics and audiences alike, and his most recent contribution is no exception. The French Dispatch is about a newspaper’s final issue consisting of three articles spanning over fifty years. The movie’s two-hour runtime is jam-packed with familiar Wes Anderson collaborators, intricate set-pieces, animated sequences, and detailed choreography, and that’s just scratching the surface. Throughout the runtime, the film switches between French dialogue and English dialogue, black and white footage and color footage, and widescreen aspect ratio and 4:3 aspect ratio. Every word, every frame, every choice feels intentional from the creator.
Trademarks
Wes Anderson has a distinct, avant-garde style of filmmaking. His trademark symmetrical framing and concise color palette can be seen across his films. Yet, each film builds off one another. Anderson’s latest feature shows that he still has some tricks up his sleeves. This is what makes him the masterful filmmaker he is today. No wonder Martin Scorsese sees him as his successor. Watching behind-the-scenes footage of The Grand Budapest Hotel, you can see who Anderson is as a leader. He is very specific about what he wants and conveys it to his partners without raising his voice. This style of leadership is what keeps his collaborators coming back. At the end of the day, the goal is to make the best movie possible. What makes Wes Anderson such a good director is that he stays true to his vision. He describes this sensation in the prologue to Albert Maysles’ portrait on The Royal Tenenbaums. “What [a movie] adds up to be is always sort of a surprise. Even if you planned everything, when you add it up, it’s never what you exactly expected because you never quite fully picture it.” Wes’s style has evolved over his filmmaking career from working with the same cast and crew since the beginning. He has written every script alongside one of his creative partners. Wes also uses the same actors, cinematographers, and composers in nearly every project. The reason Wes Anderson’s style is so hard to replicate is that his style is accidental. Just like his movies, Wes isn’t trying to be something he is not. From the way he dresses to the way he speaks of his upbringing, Wes Anderson has always remained himself despite mainstream pressure to succumb to the norm.
Review
The structure of The French Dispatch is made up of three stories: two biographies on prominent figures and one action-packed anecdote. Wes’s oddball humor shines through the characters’ dialogue and visual gags. The excitement of the storytellers just oozes through the screen. I found the first story, The Concrete Masterpiece, to be the most interesting out of the three. It details the life of an incarcerated, psychotic painter who is credited with leading the contemporary art wave. The other two stories were also enjoyable, although, as the film increasingly jumped between timelines, I became more disoriented. The transitions between the stories were also a bit clunky. I did, however, find the chaotic, freeze-framed shots of crossfire fun to look at as well as the animated action scenes. While I thoroughly enjoyed The French Dispatch, I can see why this film isn’t most audiences’ first choice. The dialogue is heavy, the subtitles disappear quickly, and each frame is littered with details. Also, a lot of exposition takes place in the form of narration from the journalists. With all of this going on, I was frantically looking at every corner of the screen in fear that I might miss something important. Because so much information is being thrown at you at once, the movie can be a bit hard to follow. Overall, The French Dispatch channels Wes Anderson’s artistic sensibilities as well as his love for classic French cinema, silent films, the movies of Stanley Kubrick, and The New Yorker. In his tenth film, Wes Anderson yet again wears his influences like a badge of honor. I can’t wait to see The French Dispatch again when it plays at the Askew Student Life Center on February 5th.
Written by: Dylan Fishman
Art by: Alyssa Confessore
