Set in the 1950s, the film follows a wealthy industrialist who has named his only daughter as his sole heir as the two along with a tutor traveling around the fictional European country of Phoenicia to deal with various investors over money, he skimmed over to salvage a project that he hopes would help Phoenicia. It is a film that explores a man who had been through many near-death experiences involving plane crashes and assassination attempts on his life where he decides to bring his eldest child into the fold even though she is about to become a nun as she is reluctant to take part in his criminal activities. Wes Anderson’s screenplay has a narrative that is straightforward with some strange yet surreal sequences that involves its protagonist Zsa-Zsa Korda (Benicio del Toro) often visiting the afterlife following every near-death experience. These events forces him to name his estranged daughter Liesl (Mia Threapleton) as his sole heir as he has 10 other sons who are all adolescent and unable to help Korda in his schemes. Joining them on this trip through Phoenicia is a Norwegian entomologist in Bjorn (Michael Cera) whom Korda hired as a tutor in his own increasing interest in insects.
The script also has a unique structure into the group of people that Korda has to meet to cover his losses that includes a consortium led by two American brothers in Leland (Tom Hanks) and Reagan (Bryan Cranston), the heir to Phoenicia in Prince Farouk (Riz Ahmed), a French nightclub owner in Marseille Bob (Mathieu Almaric), an American investor in Marty (Jeffrey Wright), Korda’s second-cousin Hilda (Scarlett Johansson), and his half-brother Uncle Nubar (Benedict Cumberbatch) whom Korda believes killed Liesl’s mother many years ago. Korda would endure a series of challenges and events upon his journey as it would play into a character arc of his own as a man that is constantly dealing with assassins trying to kill him and other things while he gets to know Liesl. Liesl would have an arc of her own while also revealing her own quirks such as the fact that she carries a dagger and smokes with a pipe. Notably as she gains a view of the world though remains committed to her faith and becoming a nun. Bjorn is a character that is full of intrigue as he is fascinated by Liesl while he is also ambiguous in the things he talks about while often surrounds himself with insects as they fascinate him. The film also has a subplot relating to a government agent led by Excaliber (Rupert Friend) who is tailing Korda and his activities in the hope of disrupting everything for Korda.
Anderson’s direction is entrancing as it does play into his stylish usage of symmetrical compositions and diligence to everything he captures on film. Shot on location at the Babelsberg Studio in Germany and in a 1:48:1 aspect ratio format that is an unconventional presentation that is atypical with a lot of films. Anderson does maintain some unique compositions in some of the wide shots he creates to play into the fictional country of Phoenicia as it is a country between Europe and the Middle East. Anderson does maintain some stylish framing in the way he puts his actors in a medium shot or a close-up along with some intricate tracking shots where characters would move from one room to another. Anderson’s presentation of the scenes set in the afterlife are shot in black-and-white as there is an element of surrealism where Korda meet some people including his first wife (Charlotte Gainsbourg), a young Liesl (Beatrice Campbell) and a few others as it plays into his own brush with death.
The film also plays into the ideas of faith as it relates to Liesl who often prays during her journey while the sequence in which Korda meets with Bob at his nightclub that is being robbed by Communist revolutionaries led by Sergio (Richard Ayoade) as Korda, Liesl, and Bjorn would meet them again as they are all Atheists. There is a humorous take in how Anderson presents Atheism as it would help play in both Korda and Liesl’s character arcs as it relates to faith. Notably the former whose encounters with the afterlife through his near-death experiences forces him to contend with his own existence. The film’s climax relates to the final meetings with those he counted upon to help him save the project as well as confront Uncle Nubar who is the last investor who is also ambiguous into answering Liesl’s own questions about her mother. It would be followed by a ridiculous fight scene as well as other outlandish things followed by an epilogue that plays into the fate of Phoenicia, its project, and those close to Korda. Overall, Anderson crafts an evocative and enchanting film about a business tycoon trying to make amends with his estranged empire to save his criminal empire.
Cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel does incredible work with the film’s cinematography with its stylish usage of lighting for interior scenes in the day and night as well as in the way some of the exterior scenes are lit including scenes at night such as a scene inside a crashed airplane with the usage of lamps and available light. Editor Barney Pilling, with additional work from Andrew Weisblum, does excellent work with the editing with its usage of jump-cuts, slow-motion shots, and other stylish cuts to play into the suspense, action, and humor also knowing when to have shots linger on for around a minute. Production designer Adam Stockhausen, with set decorator Anna Pinnock plus art directors Marc Bitz, Neneh Lucia, Anja Muller, Esther Schreiner, and Mariana Vasconcellos, does brilliant work with the look of the Korda estate, the unfinished train tunnel, and other places including interiors of the planes that Korda flies in as it is a highlight of the film. Costume designer Milena Canonero does amazing work with the costumes in the design of the suits that Korda and Bjorn wears as well as the nun outfit that Liesl wears and the clothes of some of the other characters including the sweatpants and shoes that Leland and Reagan wear.
Hair/makeup designer Heike Merker and prosthetics designer Mark Coulier do terrific work with the look of the characters in the hairstyles that Liesl and Bjorn have as well as the big beard that Uncle Nubar has. Special effects supervisor Gerd Nefzer, along with visual effects supervisors Craig Crawford and Steve Murgatroyd, does fantastic work with the look of some of the models and miniatures used in the film along with a few bits of visual effects as set dressing. Sound editors Wayne Lemmer and Christopher Scarabosio do superb work with the sound in the way planes sound from the inside as well as the sounds of certain objects including weapons. The film’s music by Alexandre Desplat is wonderful for its low-key piano-based orchestral score that plays into the suspense and drama with some soft percussive and a low-key string arrangement to play into some dangerous scenes. Music supervisor Randall Poster cultivated a soundtrack that features classical music pieces from Igor Stravinsky, Ludwig Van Beethoven, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Modest Mussorgsky as well as music from Gene Krupa and Dizzy Gillespie.
The film’s casting by Douglas Aibel is marvelous as it feature some notable small roles and appearances from Beatrice Campbell as a young Liesl, Donald Sumpter as a chairman that Excaliber works for, Alex Jennings as Korda’s butler, Jason Watkins as Korda’s attorney, Stephen Park as Korda’s pilot, and in the roles of Korda’s 10 adolescent sons in Edward Hyland, Ogden Dawson, Kit Rakusen, Milo James, Hector Bateman-Harden, Benjamin Lake, Gunes Taner, Gabriel Ryan, Mohamad Momo Ramadan, and Jonathan Wirtz. Other notable small roles as figures of people that Korda sees in the afterlife include Charlotte Gainsbourg as Korda’s first wife, Willem Dafoe as an attorney in Knave, F. Murray Abraham as a prophet, and Bill Murray as God. Hope Davis is fantastic as the Mother Superior who arrives in the film’s third function as Liesl’s mentor who learns about Liesl’s journey as well as getting to know Korda where she decides to join him in his own scheme for the good of Phoenicia.
Tom Hanks and Bryan Cranston are superb in their respective roles as the brothers Leland and Reagan as two American investors who are upset over their own financial loss as they would settle this dispute through a game of horse where Hanks and Cranston display their skills in the game. Riz Ahmed and Richard Ayoade are excellent in their respective roles as the Phoenician heir Prince Farouk and the guerilla leader Sergio with the former being an investor who believes that Korda will do good while the latter is a Communist revolutionary who decides to join Korda in the film’s third act in dealing with enemies of Korda. Rupert Friend and Mathieu Almaric are brilliant in their respective roles as the bureaucratic Excaliber and the nightclub owner Marseille Bob with the former being a government agent trying to disrupt Korda’s activities and the latter being another investor who has issues with what Korda wants only for his encounter with Sergio changes everything.
Jeffrey Wright and Scarlett Johansson are amazing in their respective roles as the American investor Marty and Cousin Hilda with the former being an investor who is also upset over what Korda wants while the latter is Korda’s second cousin who is unsure about wanting to marry Korda to save his business as she is also trying to handle things for herself. Benedict Cumberbatch is great as Uncle Nubar as Korda’s half-brother who is also an investor yet remains mysterious in his own dealings while is also unwilling to answer questions about the death of Liesl’s mother. Michael Cera is incredible as Bjorn as a Norwegian entomologist who is hired as a tutor for Korda while also being an administrative assistant where he is full of humor and intrigue as he is also someone that is fascinated by Liesl.
Mia Threapleton is tremendous in a break-out performance as Liesl as Korda’s estranged daughter who is becoming a nun as she is reluctant to join her father on a trip through Phoenicia where she gets to see many wonders of the world while also being someone who smokes a pipe and carries a dagger where she has quirks of her own like her father. Finally, there is Benicio del Toro in a phenomenal performance as Zsa-Zsa Korda as a business tycoon who has created schemes to swindle people out of money where he is ruthless in his pursuits until a series of near-death experiences forces him to make some changes in saving a project for the country of Phoenicia where he gains some insights about the ways of the world. It is a witty performance from del Toro who brings a lot of complexities of a man with irredeemable qualities, yet he puts in things that would make him redeemable during his journey as he also has some amazing low-key chemistry with Threapleton.
The Phoenician Scheme is a sensational film by Wes Anderson that features a great leading performance from Benicio del Toro and a major discovery in Mia Threapleton. Along with its ensemble cast, dazzling visuals, a sumptuous music soundtrack, and a story of redemption and meaning amidst bad decisions and near-death experiences. The film is an offbeat yet compelling film that does mark a newfound maturity from Anderson in its exploration of family dysfunction as well as characters trying to find redemption from their bad habits. In the end, The Phoenician Scheme is a phenomenal film by Wes Anderson.
Wes Anderson Films: Bottle Rocket - Rushmore - The Royal Tenenbaums - The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - Hotel Chevalier - The Darjeeling Limited - Fantastic Mr. Fox - Moonrise Kingdom - Castello Cavalcanti - The Grand Budapest Hotel - Isle of Dogs - The French Dispatch - Asteroid City - The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar - The Swan - The Rat Catcher - Poison (2023 short) - The Auteurs #8: Wes Anderson
Wes Anderson Film Soundtracks: Bottle Rocket - Rushmore - The Royal Tenenbaums - The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - Seu Jorge-The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions - The Darjeeling Limited - Fantastic Mr. Fox - (Moonrise Kingdom) – (The Grand Budapest Hotel) – (Isle of Dogs) – (The French Dispatch) – (Asteroid City) – (The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar) – (The Phoenician Scheme)
© thevoid99 2023
The 17-minute short film revolves around a British man who is lying still as a friend of his learned there is a snake sleeping on the man’s stomach as he asks for a doctor to help observe the situation. It is a film that plays into a life-and-death scenario as Wes Anderson maintains a straightforward narrative into the script with Timber Woods (Dev Patel) being the narrator of sorts as he watches over his British friend Harry Pope (Benedict Cumberbatch) lying still on his bed as a snake has fallen asleep on his stomach. Woods calls Dr. Ganderbai (Ben Kingsley) about the situation as he arrives where he observes everything as he knows that Pope is in deep shit. It plays into this sense of tension along with some revelations about what is going on with Roald Dahl (Ralph Fiennes) popping in for a couple of scenes as he also talks about the snake that is on Pope’s stomach.
Anderson’s direction aims for a straightforward style while shooting much of the action is shot in a 2:35:1 aspect ratio with the two Dahl scenes shot in a 1:33:1 aspect ratio. Shot at Maidstone Studios in Kent, England, Anderson does bring in some unique compositions where the widescreen aspect ratio allows him to provide a bigger canvas to play into the suspense. Notably when Anderson uses wide and medium shots to get a scope into the situation including shots from above that plays into the scale of the room and what is at stake. There are also some close-ups as it plays into Pope as he is sweating as well as Dr. Ganderbai where it adds to the dramatic suspense. Even though Dr. Ganderbai would use some methods he knows that would prove to be risky, it adds to what is at stake. Overall, Anderson crafts a riveting yet whimsical film about a life-and-death situation involving a snake.
Cinematographer Robert Yeoman does incredible work with the film’s cinematography with its usage of low-key lights for many of the interior/exterior sets as well as the emphasis on heightened colors for the scenes involving Dahl. Editors Barney Pilling and Andrew Weisblum do excellent work with the editing as it is straightforward to play into the suspense and drama. Production designer Adam Stockhausen, along with set decorators Cathy Featherstone and Anna Pinnock plus art directors Claire Peerless and Kevin Timon Hill, does brilliant work with the look of the home that Pope and Woods lived in as well as the artificial background sets and the home of Dr. Ganderbai. Costume designer Kasia Walicka Maimone does fantastic work with the clothes of Dr. Ganderbai as well as the pajamas that Pope is wearing.
Hair/makeup designer Frances Hannon does nice work with the look of the characters with their facial hair. Special effects supervisors Chris Reynolds and Nick Roberts do terrific work with the film’s minimal visual effects as it consists of moving sets and a brief shot of a snake that is in a jar that Dahl has with him. Sound mixer Valentino Gianni does superb work with the sound in the way sparse noises sound from outside as well as the emphasis on silence. Music supervisor Randall Poster does a wonderful job with the film’s minimal music soundtrack as it features a song by Jarvis Cocker in the film’s final credit in the feature-length version of the film.
The film’s remarkable ensemble cast includes two notable small roles from Benoit Herlin and Eliel Ford as a couple of stagehands with Ralph Fiennes in a superb appearance as Roald Dahl who comments on a couple of moments in the story. Dev Patel is incredible as Timber Woods as a friend of Pope who is narrating everything that is happening while also observing into a dangerous situation that could be fatal to Pope. Ben Kingsley is great as Dr. Ganderbai as a doctor who knows how to deal with snakes while he observes the severity of the situation knowing that one mistake is costly. Finally, there’s Benedict Cumberbatch in a tremendous performance as Harry Pope as a man lying in bed as he believes a snake is sleeping on his stomach as he is restrained but also terrified in this life-and-death situation.
Poison is a phenomenal short film by Wes Anderson. Featuring a great cast, gorgeous visuals, and a gripping story about a life-and-death situation. It is among one of Anderson’s finest short films as well as a great adaptation of a short story by Roald Dahl. In the end, Poison is a sensational film from Wes Anderson.
Wes Anderson Films: Bottle Rocket - Rushmore - The Royal Tenenbaums - The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - Hotel Chevalier - The Darjeeling Limited
- Fantastic Mr. Fox - Moonrise Kingdom - Castello Cavalcanti - The Grand Budapest Hotel - Isle of Dogs - The French Dispatch - Asteroid City - The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar - The Swan - The Rat Catcher - The Phoenician Scheme - The Auteurs #8: Wes Anderson
Wes Anderson Film Soundtracks: Bottle Rocket - Rushmore - The Royal Tenenbaums - The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - Seu Jorge-The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions - The Darjeeling Limited - Fantastic Mr. Fox - (Moonrise Kingdom) – (The Grand Budapest Hotel) – (Isle of Dogs) – (The French Dispatch) – (Asteroid City) - (The Phoenician Scheme)
© thevoid99 2024
Based on the short story by Roald Dahl, The Rat Catcher is the story of a reporter and a mechanic who follows an exterminator and learns about his methods in catching a rat. Written for the screen and directed by Wes Anderson, the short film is the third film in a series of adaptations of short stories by Dahl where it explores a man’s unconventional approach to catching rats. Starring Ralph Fiennes, Richard Ayoade, Rupert Friend, Eliel Ford, Benoit Herlin, and Till Sennhenn. The Rat Catcher is an exhilarating and haunting film by Wes Anderson.
The 18-minute short film revolves around a rat catcher who is asked to catch some rats for a reporter and a mechanic in a small English town as they deal with his methods. It is a film told through a reporter (Richard Ayoade) who talks about meeting this rat catcher (Ralph Fiennes) who has these unconventional methods in catching rats where the reporter and a mechanic (Rupert Friend) watch as they are baffled by this man’s unconventional methods. The script is straightforward in its narrative while it plays into these two men who are fascinated and later troubled by the methods of this rat catcher. Notably as he reveals things in what he does to catch rats as well as his own thoughts that eventually become off-putting to the two men.
Anderson’s direction is straightforward in its presentation as it is shot on location at Maidstone Studios in Kent, England where Anderson maintains a meticulous approach to detail in the overall setting. Shot in a 1:33:1 aspect ratio, Anderson would use some wide shots to get a scope in a few shots in the location including a haybale where the rat catcher would try to trap rats. Still, much of the direction has Anderson utilizing close-ups and medium shots including a brief stop-motion animated sequence involving a rat that would lead to a sequence in which the rat catcher and the mechanic pretending to be a rat have a showdown. Anderson still brings in some offbeat humor including a brief appearance of Roald Dahl (Ralph Fiennes) who comments on the methods of the rat catcher as well as some troubling revelations as it relates to rats. Overall, Anderson crafts a whimsical yet chilling film about a rat catcher and his unconventional methods of catching rats.
Cinematographer Robert Yeoman does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with its emphasis on yellowish colors to heighten some of the exteriors while using some low-key lighting for the fight scene between the rat catcher and the rat. Editor Barney Pilling and Andrew Weisblum do excellent work with the editing as there are some jump-cuts in a few scenes including the fight while much of it is straightforward to play into its humor and drama. Production designer Adam Stockhausen, along with art director Claire Peerless plus set decorators Cathy Featherstone and Anna Pinnock, does amazing work with the sets including the buildings that both the reporter and mechanic work at as well as some backdrops and the design of the hay bale. Costume designer Kasia Walicka Maimone does fantastic work with the costumes as it is straightforward in the suit that the reporter wears as well as the jumpsuit the mechanic wears.
Hair/makeup designer Frances Hannon does incredible work with the look of the rat catcher with his contact lenses, long fingernails, and long hair as he looks like a rat. Special effects supervisor Chris Reynolds does nice work with the film’s minimal visual effects that plays into the film’s lone stop-motion animated sequence involving the rat. Sound mixer Valentino Gianni does superb work with the sound in capturing the natural elements on set as well as the way a rat would sound from afar or up-close.
The film’s wonderful ensemble cast features some notable small roles from Eliel Ford, Benoit Herlin, and Till Sennhenn as stagehands who appear to bring in props or costumes. Rupert Friend is excellent as the mechanic who is fascinated by the rat catcher’s methods though is later troubled by them as well as playing the rat for the fight scene. Richard Ayoade is brilliant as the reporter who is also the film’s narrator as he observes everything the rat catcher does while also becoming uncomfortable with the rat catcher’s methods. Finally, there’s Ralph Fiennes in an incredible performance in a dual role as the titular character and Roald Dahl where he brings a northern accent in the former along with some exaggerated facial expressions where it is comical and eerie at times while he is more subdued in the latter.
The Rat Catcher is a phenomenal film by Wes Anderson. Featuring a great cast, gorgeous visuals, and a story of two men observing the actions of a rat catcher. It is an offbeat yet engaging short film that explores a man’s method of catching rats as well as some troubling revelations about what he does. In the end, The Rat Catcher is a sensational film from Wes Anderson.
Wes Anderson Films: Bottle Rocket - Rushmore - The Royal Tenenbaums - The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - Hotel Chevalier - The Darjeeling Limited
- Fantastic Mr. Fox - Moonrise Kingdom - Castello Cavalcanti - The Grand Budapest Hotel - Isle of Dogs - The French Dispatch - Asteroid City - The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar - The Swan - Poison – The Phoenician Scheme - The Auteurs #8: Wes Anderson
Wes Anderson Film Soundtracks: Bottle Rocket - Rushmore - The Royal Tenenbaums - The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - Seu Jorge-The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions - The Darjeeling Limited - Fantastic Mr. Fox - (Moonrise Kingdom) – (The Grand Budapest Hotel) – (Isle of Dogs) – (The French Dispatch) – (Asteroid City)
© thevoid99 2024
The film revolves around a young boy had been bullied by two ignorant older boys who get a kick out of killing small birds as they bully the boy and kill a swan in front of him. It is a 17-minute short film that explores a young boy who is pushed to the edge as he is a bird lover as it is told by a man named Peter Watson (Rupert Friend) who was that young boy as he recalls this entire incident that shaped his life. Wes Anderson’s script is largely told through Peter Watson as he accompanies his younger self (Asa Jennings) over this incident in which he witnesses two older boys shooting small birds with a rifle where he is put into a near-death experience and the witness the death of a swan as these bullies would push the young Peter to the edge. Notably as it would have this aftermath over what happened as Roald Dahl (Ralph Fiennes) tells it.
Anderson’s direction does have its sense of style with carefully tight compositions in the wide and medium shots while also in its usage of tracking and dolly shots in its 1:33:1 aspect ratio. Shot on location at the Maidstone Studios in Kent, England, Anderson maintains a stripped-down approach in the setting of long fields and a train track while stagehands appear every now and then. Anderson also maintains an intimacy in the direction in the usage of close-ups in a scene where the older Peter talks about his near-death experience with the younger Peter watching in the background. Anderson also plays into the violence though he doesn’t show anything but rather through older Peter’s narration and a scene where the older Peter wear swan wings as it would lead to this conclusion narrated by Dahl. Overall, Anderson creates a compelling and evocative film about a man reflecting on a terrible incident he dealt with as a child.
Cinematographer Roman Coppola does brilliant work with the film’s straightforward photography to play into the bright look of the fields as well as some low-key lighting for a few of the film’s interior scenes. Editors Barney Pilling and Andrew Weisblum do excellent work with the editing where it is straightforward with very few rhythmic cuts to play into the rhythm of Peter’s narration. Production designer Adam Stockhausen, along with art directors Claire Peerless and Kevin Timon Hill, does incredible work with the look of the pond and fields that is used for the environment along with a few interior settings to play into the artificiality to play into this man’s story. Costume designer Kasia Walicka Maimone does nice work with the costumes with a few clothes the young Peter wears as well as the suit the older Peter wears.
Hair/makeup designers Naomi Donne and Frances Hannon do fantastic work with the look of the characters that include the haircuts that the characters have including a few wigs that the stagehands wear. Visual effects supervisor Jean-Francois Ferland does terrific work with the visual effects as it is set-dressing for a few backgrounds including the scene involving the swan. Sound editor Wayne Lemmer does superb work with the sound in the sound effects that are created including some of the sparse moments as it is a highlight of the film.
The film’s wonderful ensemble cast features some notable small roles from Eliel Ford, Truman Hanks, Benoit Herlin, and Octavio Tapia as stagehands who play various roles while providing props needed for the film. Asa Jennings is fantastic as the young Peter where he does maintain a low-key presence despite not having any dialogue yet does bring a lot of importance to this story of a kid being bullied. Ralph Fiennes is excellent in his brief appearance as Roald Dahl as the man who authored the story while adding some insight into the aftermath of the story that is being told. Finally, there’s Rupert Friend in an incredible performance as the older Peter who narrates his own story about a troubling incident he encountered as a kid where he narrates what happened to him while also doing so many things as it is a restrained yet engaging performance from Friend.
The Swan is a phenomenal film by Wes Anderson. Featuring a great cast, a compelling story of trauma, a stripped-down setting, and its unconventional approach to storytelling while breaking down the fourth wall. The short film is a charming yet simple short that plays into a man reflecting on a traumatic event while also reflecting on what pushed him to the edge. In the end, The Swan is an incredible film from Wes Anderson.
Wes Anderson Films: Bottle Rocket - Rushmore - The Royal Tenenbaums - The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - Hotel Chevalier - The Darjeeling Limited - Fantastic Mr. Fox - Moonrise Kingdom - Castello Cavalcanti - The Grand Budapest Hotel - Isle of Dogs - The French Dispatch - Asteroid City - The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar - The Rat Catcher – Poison – The Phoenician Scheme - The Auteurs #8: Wes Anderson
Wes Anderson Film Soundtracks: Bottle Rocket - Rushmore - The Royal Tenenbaums - The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - Seu Jorge-The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions - The Darjeeling Limited - Fantastic Mr. Fox - (Moonrise Kingdom) – (The Grand Budapest Hotel) – (Isle of Dogs) – (The French Dispatch) – (Asteroid City)
© thevoid99 2024
The film is the simple story of a rich man who discovers a book about a doctor’s report on a guru who can see things without his eyes where the man hopes to master this skill to cheat at gambling. It is a film told in a multilayered style as it is told through different characters with Roald Dahl (Ralph Fiennes) doing the narration as well as how he authored this story with claims that it is based on a real man. Notably as the titular character (Benedict Cumberbatch) was at an event bored where he walked to the library where he discovered this book written by Dr. Chatterjee (Dev Patel) who recounts his meeting with a circus performer in Imdad Khan (Ben Kingsley) who asked to be blindfolded for an upcoming performance. Dr. Chatterjee and his colleague Dr. Marshall (Richard Ayoade) would ask Khan these questions about where he learned this trade where Khan would tell the story of how he met this guru (Richard Ayoade) as it plays into Henry Sugar’s obsession to learn this skill, yet it would succeed in learning it, but its aftermath would prove to be unfulfilling.
Wes Anderson’s direction plays in a style that includes a lot of static shots and so much mindfulness in the setting where it does feel like the fourth wall is broken. Shot on location at the Maidstone Studios in Kent, England, Anderson’s usage of un-broken long shots, unique camera angles, and sets being moved from set to another adds to this unconventional presentation where characters narrate this story and the layers upon which it plays into Sugar’s newfound obsession. While the film is shot in a 1:33:1 full-frame aspect ratio on 16mm film to maintain an intimate style while still using some wide shots. Anderson’s usage of medium shots and close-ups do add to the sense of whimsy as well as intrigue into whether these stories were true as the characters would talk to the camera to play into this ambiguity with actors also playing multiple roles. It would all play into this journey of a rich yet lonely man who wants more money and wealth, yet it is through this skill to see things without his eyes that would reveal so much more than what wealth can offer to him. Overall, Anderson crafts a delightful and rapturous film about a rich man’s discovery of a secret skill that can make him wealthier.
Cinematographer Robert Yeomen does incredible work with the film’s cinematography with the usage of vibrant colors and heightened lighting for some of the daytime exteriors as well as stylish lights and low-key lights for some scenes at night. Editors Barney Pilling and Andrew Weisblum do excellent work with the editing as it has a few jump-cuts while a lot of it is straightforward in its cutting in allowing shots to linger for a few minutes. Production designer Adam Stockhausen, with supervising art director Kevin Timon Hill plus set decorators Cathy Featherstone and Anna Pinnock, does brilliant work with the look of the sets in the interiors of Sugar’s home, the hospital in India, and some of the backdrops created for Khan’s story. Costume designer Kasia Walicka Maimone does fantastic work with the costumes in the posh clothing that Sugar wears as well as the different clothing that Dahl and other characters wear.
Hair/makeup designer Frances Hannon does amazing work with the hair/makeup design in the different looks that the characters would have included Sugar late in the film. Special effects supervisor Chris Reynolds, along with visual effects supervisors Jep Hill, David Lebensfeld, Tim Ledbury, and Grant Miller, does terrific work with the special effects in some of the backdrops with some little mechanical animation in the background and rear projection in a few bits. Sound editors Wayne Lemmer and Christopher Scarabosio do superb work with the sound as it plays into some of the natural sound effects as well as some sound effects created to play into the environment the characters are in. Music supervisor Randall Poster creates a wonderful soundtrack that consists of a classical music piece that is played sparingly in parts of the film.
The film’s ensemble cast features a few small appearances from Jarvis Cocker in various roles as friends of Sugar as well as a casino receptionist and David Gant as a casino croupier. Richard Ayoade is excellent in a dual role as Dr. Marshall who assists Dr. Chatterjee in his study of Khan as well as the Great Yogi who would teach Khan this trick to see things without his eyes. Dev Patel is amazing in a dual role as Dr. Chatterjee who is fascinated by Khan’s story where he would author the book that Sugar would read and as Sugar’s family accountant John Winston who would oversee Sugar’s business later in the film. Ben Kingsley is brilliant in a dual role as the circus performer Imdad Khan who would gain fame through a trick in seeing things without his eyes where he presents himself in a calm manner and in another role as a casino blackjack dealer.
Ralph Fiennes is incredible in a dual role as Roald Dahl as the man who revealed how learned this story about Henry Sugar and his meetings with him and in a small role as a policeman who is upset with an incident that Sugar causes. Finally, there’s Benedict Cumberbatch in a phenomenal dual performance as the titular character who is this wealthy man that becomes obsessed in learning this skill so he can win at gambling only to gain something even more fulfilling while Cumberbatch also plays a small role as a makeup artist who works for Sugar later in the film.
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar is a tremendous film by Wes Anderson. Featuring a great cast, wondrous visuals, and an inventive screenplay. It is a short film that takes one of Roald Dahl’s overlooked short stories and turns into a story of a man’s obsession in a story he read only to find something far more valuable than what he originally intended to use with this skill he discovered. In the end, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar is a spectacular film from Wes Anderson.
Wes Anderson Films: Bottle Rocket - Rushmore - The Royal Tenenbaums - The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - Hotel Chevalier - The Darjeeling Limited - Fantastic Mr. Fox - Moonrise Kingdom - Castello Cavalcanti - The Grand Budapest Hotel - Isle of Dogs - The French Dispatch - Asteroid City - The Swan – The Rat Catcher – Poison – The Phoenician Scheme - The Auteurs #8: Wes Anderson
Wes Anderson Film Soundtracks: Bottle Rocket - Rushmore - The Royal Tenenbaums - The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - Seu Jorge-The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions - The Darjeeling Limited - Fantastic Mr. Fox - (Moonrise Kingdom) – (The Grand Budapest Hotel) – (Isle of Dogs) – (The French Dispatch) – (Asteroid City)
© thevoid99 2024
Set in a desert town near the California-Nevada border in the 1950s, the film revolves around a group of people attending a three-day convention for Junior Stargazers where five of its cadets are to receive awards as well as a special scholarship when an alien arrives and everything goes wrong. It is a film that explores a group of people that includes a grieving photographer with a family of four, his cantankerous father-in-law, a film star with her daughter, a school teacher with a group of young students, parents with their kids attending the event, and a singing cowboy as they all are part of this convention held by a war general and an astronomer. Yet, the story is essentially being told by a TV host (Bryan Cranston) who reveals that the story is being created a troubled playwright who goes through many difficulties in creating the play with a womanizing play director and other actors.
Wes Anderson’s screenplay that is based on a story he created with Roman Coppola as it explores a man trying to create this story of loss and uncertainty in a desert town where its visitors end up staying in due to their encounter with the alien as it serves as an allegory of the events of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019-2021. The story is interspersed with playwright Conrad Earp (Edward Norton) trying to create his play as he has issues with some of his actors while dealing with its director Schubert Green (Adrien Brody) who is going through his own issues. The script plays into Earp’s trying to stage this play and find meaning while the story within the story showcase many characters not only deal with being in quarantine by the government following their encounter with the alien with the war photographer Augie Steenbeck (Jason Schwartzman) dealing with grief over the death of his wife but also in trying to tell his kids about it as he finds companionship in the film star Midge Campbell (Scarlett Johansson) who is also going through her own issues as well as continuously playing troubled and abused women when her gift is comedy.
Anderson’s direction definitely bears a lot of the visual styles he’s known for with his unique approach to tracking shots, camera movements, striking compositions, and other things that he’s known for. Yet, there is also this theatrical element he brings to play into this idea of theater as it plays into the Earp storyline as it also include some unique camera angles as many of those scenes are shot in black-and-white and in a 1:33:1 aspect ratio while much of the film is shot in color in a 2:39:1 aspect ratio. Shot on location in Spain with the town of Chinchon being its nearby location, Anderson creates a world that is quite offbeat where the locations are reminiscent of the American westerns by John Ford yet they’re infused with bits of sci-fi as it play into the inventions the five young kids have created as well as the encounter with the alien as some of the visual effects are a combination of stop-motion animation, miniatures, and other practical effects including a roadrunner that Steenbeck’s three daughters keep meeting.
For a film that blends a lot of genres, Anderson was able to balance it while maintaining a sense of humor where he also manages to make fun of his own visual style in his approach to wide and medium shots. Even in the tight close-ups he’s created that play into some of the emotional moments of the characters as well as medium shots in the way Anderson captures conversations between Steenbeck and Campbell in their respective homes. Anderson would also maintain a different approach in his direction that is looser for the scenes involving Earp and his world as it has this sense of theatricality in the way scenes are presented as well as the usage of wide shots as it all plays into Earp trying to find meaning in his story and what he wanted to say despite frustrating his actors in the project. Especially as the ending plays into Steenbeck’s journey through loss and his own issues where realizes what he must do for his family. In the end, Anderson crafts an intoxicating and riveting film about a troubled playwright who creates a story about a Junior Stargazers convention being disrupted by a visiting alien.
Cinematographer Robert Yeoman does incredible work with the black-and-white look of the Earp scenes that has some unique lighting approaches to the rooms while the scenes on the city are shown with vibrant colors to play into the look of the 1950s. Editor Barney Pilling, with additional editing by Andrew Weisblum, does brilliant work with the editing as it has elements of style as it play into the film’s comedic tone with some rhythmic cuts but also with some cuts that add to the drama and suspense without deviating into conventional methods like fast-cuts. Production designer Adam Stockhausen with supervising art director Stephane Cressend plus set decorators Kris Moran, Sonia Nolla, and Gabriel Picola, does amazing work with the look of the city with its houses, its diner, the science observatory, other buildings and a partially-built highway ramp that remains unfinished along with the look of Earp’s home and the stage sets around him. Costume designer Milena Canonero does excellent work with the costumes in the stylish clothes many of the people at Asteroid City wear that are colorful to the more refined look for the scenes from Earp’s perspective.
Hair/makeup designer Julie Dartnell does fantastic work with the look of Midge in her black hairdo as well as Steenbeck’s beard and other facial props that he wears as his acting persona. Special effects supervisor Pau Costa and special effects designer Carlos Laguna, along with visual effects supervisor Tim Ledbury, do terrific work with the visual effects in the design of the alien and the little road runner that has this element of stop-motion animation, practical effects, and miniatures as it is a highlight of the film. Sound editors Wayne Lemmer and Christopher Scarabosio do superb work with the sound in some of the sound effects created for the scenes at Asteroid City as well as the sounds of atomic bomb sites far from the city as well as the sparse sounds in the Earp scenes.
The film’s music by Alexandre Desplat is phenomenal for its melodic-based orchestral score that has this element of sci-fi and drama with its rich string arrangements, piano riffs, woodwinds, and other instrumentation that adds to the film’s charm. Music supervisor Randall Poster creates a fun soundtrack that largely consists of country/western music from the 1950s with music from Johnny Duncan and the Blue Grass Boys, Slim Whitman, Les Baxter, Bob Willis and His Texas Playboys, Tex Ritter, Bill Monroe, Burl Ives, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Eddy Arnold, Bing Crosby, Les Paul and Mary Ford, The Chas McDevitt Skiffle Group with Nancy Whiskey, a classical piece from Johann Pachelbel, and a couple of original songs from Jarvis Cocker and Richard Hawley as the soundtrack is absolutely phenomenal.
The casting by Douglas Aibel is tremendous as it is a large ensemble that includes appearances from Rita Wilson as the mother of one of the Junior Stargazer’s friends, Seu Jorge and Jarvis Cocker as a couple of cowboy musicians, Bob Balaban as an executive for a corporation, Fisher Stevens as a detective investigating the alien encounter, the trio of Ella Faris, Grace Faris, and Willan Farris as Steenbeck’s daughters, and Tony Revolori as General Gibson’s aide-de-camp for the scenes set in Asteroid City. Other notable small roles for the scenes set in the stage and rehearsals include Hong Chau as Schubert’s estranged wife Polly Green who is divorcing him, Willem Dafoe as the revered acting teacher Saltzburg Keitel who holds a seminar with Earp and Schubert, Jeff Goldblum as an actor playing the alien for the play, and Margot Robbie in a small yet crucial dual role as the picture of Steenbeck’s late wife and the actress who was supposed to play her as she appears late in the film in a memorable scene.
The quintet of Aristou Meehan, Ethan Josh Lee, Sophia Lillis, Grace Edwards, and Jake Ryan are superb in their respective roles as the Junior Stargazer awardees in Clifford Kellogg, Ricky Cho, Shelly Borden, Dinah Campbell, and Woodrow Steenbeck as the young kids who all invent something with Kellogg is eager to do dares to the annoyance of his father while Cho is a young kid who has issues with the authority following their encounter with the alien. Lillis’ performance as Borden showcases a young girl who has humor but is also someone that wants to unify everyone while Edwards’ performance as Campbell is more subdued as someone who copes in being in her mother’s shadow though she knows her mother cares about her. Ryan’s performance as Steenbeck and as an understudy in the Earp sequences who tries to get an actress back in the show, is terrific in showcasing a young man coping with loss but also the encounter with the alien where he deals with a lot of questions while has fallen for Dinah.
Hope Davis, Liev Schreiber, and Stephen Park are fantastic in their respective roles as Sandy Borden, J.J. Kellogg, and Roger Cho as the parents who deal with not just being quarantined in the town as well as raising genius kids while Steve Carell is excellent as the motel manager of Asteroid City who finds ways to make some money as well as hoping to sell land for anyone that is interested. Rupert Friend and Maya Hawke are brilliant in their respective roles as the singing cowboy Montana and the schoolteacher June Douglas as two people who become interested in one another while they both play actors in the Earp sequences where the former sports a British accent. Tilda Swinton, Matt Dillon, and Jeffrey Wright are amazing in their respective roles as the scientist Dr. Hickenlooper, the mechanic, and General Grif Gibson with Swinton being a scientist trying to make sense of things while she finds hope in Steenbeck and the Junior Stargazers.
Dillon’s performance as the mechanic is low-key yet memorable as someone who does what he can to fix things but also make art through cars while Wright’s performance as General Gibson is restrained as someone that is trying to maintain order despite the chaos he’s dealing with. The trio of Bryan Cranston, Adrien Brody, and Edward Norton are incredible in their respective roles as the TV announcer, play director Schubert Green, and the playwright Conrad Earp with Cranston being this humorous TV announcer who sort of serves as the film’s narrator while Brody brings a lot of charisma as Green as this director trying to make sense of the play while dealing with his own personal issues. Norton’s performance as Earp is a real standout as someone who is trying to create a great play while also having issues with actors and others over its content as he also deals with his own reputation.
Finally, there’s the trio of Tom Hanks, Jason Schwartzman, and Scarlett Johansson in phenomenal performances in their respective roles as Augie’s father-in-law Stanley Zak, the widowed war photographer Augie Steenbeck/actor Jones Hall, and the film star Midge Campbell/actress Mercedes Ford. Hanks brings a lot of wit to his character as a man who hates Augie as well as dealing with loss and being quarantined in Asteroid City. Schwartzman’s performance as Augie is restrained in showcasing a man coping with loss while his performance as the actor Hall shows a man who is frustrated with Earp’s writing as well as trying to figure out what his character needs to do. Johansson’s performance as Campbell as this movie star who often plays abused women where she often wears makeup to get in character as she is someone who feels stifled as she wants to do comedy while Johansson’s performance as Ford as this actress who has issues with Earp until an understudy convinces her to return to the show as it is one of Johansson’s finest performances.
Asteroid City is a sensational film from Wes Anderson. Featuring a great ensemble cast, dazzling visuals, its offbeat narrative that explores art and loss in a unique world, and a witty music soundtrack. The film has a lot of things expected from Anderson but also showcases him dealing with a world where they have no control in its situation with an artist struggling to find ideas in an ever-changing world. In the end, Asteroid City is a spectacular film from Wes Anderson.
Wes Anderson Films: Bottle Rocket - Rushmore - The Royal Tenenbaums - The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - Hotel Chevalier - The Darjeeling Limited - Fantastic Mr. Fox - Moonrise Kingdom - Castello Cavalcanti - The Grand Budapest Hotel - Isle of Dogs - The French Dispatch - The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar - The Swan - The Rat Catcher - Poison - The Phoenician Scheme - The Auteurs #8: Wes Anderson
Wes Anderson Film Soundtracks: Bottle Rocket - Rushmore - The Royal Tenenbaums - The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - Seu Jorge-The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions - The Darjeeling Limited - Fantastic Mr. Fox - (Moonrise Kingdom) – (The Grand Budapest Hotel) – (Isle of Dogs) – (The French Dispatch) – (Asteroid City)
© thevoid99 2023
Set in 1975 in the small town of Ennui, France, the film revolves a French foreign bureau newspaper whose editor had just died prompting its staff of American writers to finish its final issue that consists of three different stories. It is a film that explore the world of this magazine and the stories they tell as it all takes place in this small town in France that include three different stories plus a prologue, a small story about the town from a cycling reporter named Herbsaint Sazerac (Owen Wilson), and an epilogue. Wes Anderson’s screenplay is definitely inspired by the stories and the works of writers from The New Yorker as he play into this world of culture, politics, and adventure through the recollection of these writers. Sazerac’s story is just about the town this magazine is based on as it explore the many changes the town went through though its editor in Arthur Howitzer Jr. (Bill Murray) wonders why Sazerac also talks about some of the seedier aspects of the town as it sets the tone for the entire film.
The first story entitled The Concrete Masterpiece from the writer J.K.L. Berensen (Tilda Swinton) who hosts a lecture about the works of the artist Moses Rosenthaler (Benicio del Toro) and his own views on art including his relationship with his muse/prison guard in Simone (Lea Seydoux). It is a story that explore a man whose art is strange and abstract as a fellow prisoner in the art dealer Julien Cadazio (Adrien Brody) wants to show it to the world including Berensen’s old boss Upshur “Maw” Clampette (Lois Smith) while hoping Rosenthaler would make a grand masterpiece. The second story entitled Revisions to a Manifesto by Lucinda Krementz (Frances McDormand) explore a student protest revolution lead by Zeffirelli (Timothee Chalamet) whom Krementz gets close with yet finds herself having to deal with its complexities as well as vying for Zeffirelli’s affections with another student in Juliette (Lyna Khoudri). The third and final story entitled The Private Dining Room of the Police Commissioner by Roebuck Wright (Jeffrey Wright) was supposed to be about a dinner with Ennui’s police commissioner (Mathieu Almaric), that includes a revered chef/detective in Nescaffier (Stephen Park), where the commissioner’s son Gigi (Winston Ait Hellal) is kidnapped by a criminal syndicate over the arrest of an underworld accountant known as the Abacus (Willem Dafoe).
Anderson’s direction definitely bear a lot of the trademarks that he’s known for in his attention to detail in his framing, dolly-tracking shot camera movements, and other aspects that do play into his visual style. Shot largely on studios and locations in Angoulme in southwestern France, Anderson creates a world that is unique as the town of Ennui is this character where so much had happened as the first story by Sazerac as he’s riding on a bike revealed the town’s evolution as it is filled with these grand compare/contrast of what it looked like back in the first half of the 20th Century and what it would like in 1975. Shot largely on the 1:37:1 aspect ratio with some shots on different widescreen formats as well as some split-screens, Anderson uses the ratio to play into this world that is unique for this small town while much of the presentation is also shot in black-and-white except for much of the scenes at the magazine period and other bits in the three stories.
Anderson also draws upon some of the visual elements of the French New Wave in some of the compositions he creates in the medium and wide shots as he often captures so much detail into a room or in an entire setting. There are also some close-ups that Anderson uses to play into some of the drama and humor throughout the film as there is a lot of detail he brings that include moments of fantasy or reality. One of the stories also involve some comic-style animation supervised by Gwenn Germain in the style of The Adventures of Tintin for a key scene late in the film. The magazine itself that is illustrated by Javi Aznarez definitely owe a lot to the visuals of The New Yorker as it play into this idea of how a magazine can present stories for people to read with these interesting stories. While the narrative is straightforward though it is messy in some parts of the stories that are told as there’s small subplots and such in these stories. Anderson does play into the world of journalism in how they see things while the film is dedicated to many of those writers who did write for The New Yorker which some of the characters are based on. Overall, Anderson crafts a whimsical and exhilarating film about a French magazine run by Americans and the stories they tell in a small French town.
Cinematographer Robert D. Yeoman does incredible work with the film’s cinematography with its stylish usage of black-and-white film stock and its approach to lighting for some scenes as well as some of the colorful and vibrant lighting for the scenes in color including the scenes at night. Editor Andrew Weisblum does excellent work with the editing as its usage of jump-cuts help play into the humor and action as well as straightforward cuts to help play into the drama. Production designer Adam Stockhausen, with set decorator Rene DeAngelo and supervising art director Stephanne Cressend, does phenomenal work with the sets from the home of Zeffirelli and the place he hung out to the prison asylum that Rosenthaler does his work as well as the office at the magazine. Costume designer Milena Canonero does amazing work with the costumes from the look of the journalists as well as the many characters they encounter as it play into a lot of style with so much detail that include the motorcycle helmet that Juliette wears.
Hair/makeup designer Frances Hannon and hair/makeup supervisor Fabienne Robineau do brilliant work with the look of the characters as they each have a distinctive personality as it adds to the film’s whimsical charm. Special effects supervisor Jean-Christophe Magnaud and visual effects supervisor Keith Devlin do terrific work with some of the film’s practical effects in some of the action as well as the design for some set pieces involving miniatures. Sound editor Christopher Scarabosio does superb work with the sound in the sound effects used for some of the objects and such including the sparse atmosphere for some scenes inside a room. The film’s music by Alexandre Desplat is tremendous for its rich and intricate music score filled with unique brass and string arrangements with elements of melodic string pieces and usage of harmoniums as well as piano solos performed by Jean-Yves Thibaudet while music supervisor Randall Poster cultivates a soundtrack that features score pieces by Georges Delerue and Ennio Morricone as well as music from Grace Jones, Charles Aznavour, the Swingle Sisters, Chantal Goya, Gene Austin with Candy and Coco, Gus Viseur, and Jarvis Cocker as a French singer named Tip-Top.
The casting by Douglas Aibel, Antoinette Boulat, and Jina Jay is marvelous as it feature some notable small roles and appearances in the different sections of the film. In the roles of the film’s magazine staff, there’s Anjelica Bette Fellini as a proofreader for the magazine, Wally Wolodarsky as a writer for the magazine who has finished an article, Pablo Pauly as a waiter at a café in the same building as the magazine is at, Griffin Dunne as the magazine’s legal advisor, Fisher Stevens as the magazine story editor, Jason Schwartzman as the magazine cartoonist Hermes Jones, and Elisabeth Moss as the magazine’s copy editor Alumna. From The Concrete Masterpiece, the small performances from Morgane Polanski as a girlfriend of the young Rosenthaler, Felix Moati as the head caterer at the big event, Denis Menochet as a prison guard, Henry Winkler and Bob Balaban in their respective roles as Cadazio’s uncles in Joe and Nick, and Tony Revolori as the young Rosenthaler are a joy to watch.
From Revisions to a Manifesto, the performances of Rupert Friend, Alex Lawther, Toheeb Jimoh, and Tom Hudson as stage actors in a play, Guillaume Gallienne and Cecile de France as Zeffirelli’s parents, Mohamed Belhadjine as a student named Mitch-Mitch, and Christoph Waltz as a family friend of Zeffirelli in Paul Duval are fun to watch with Waltz being the stand-out. From The Private Dining Room of the Police Commissioner, the performances from Mauricette Coudivat as Gigi’s mother, Hippolyte Girardot as the commissioner’s friend who used to work for the police, Saoirse Ronan as a drug-addicted showgirl who befriends Gigi, and Edward Norton as a kidnapper who is also a chauffeur for the underworld. In the roles of the journalists who tell these respective stories, Owen Wilson, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand, and Jeffrey Wright are brilliant in their respective roles as Herbsaint Sazerac, J.K.L. Berensen, Lucinda Kremetz, and Roebuck Wright as they’re all based on real writers from The New Yorker with Wilson providing a calm persona to his character while Swinton and McDormand both provide low-key humor to their roles and Wright brings a charisma a gay writer.
Bill Murray is fantastic as the magazine editor-in-chief Arthur Howitzer Jr. who is based on The New Yorker co-founder Harold Ross as a man who doesn’t like anyone crying in his office while is also wondering about all of the things his writers does but is also someone that knows talent. The quartet of Benicio del Toro, Adrien Brody, Lea Seydoux, and Lois Smith are amazing in their respective roles as the artist Moses Rosenthaler, the art dealer Julien Cadazio, the prison guard/muse Simone, and the art collector Upshur “Maw” Clampette with del Toro providing a gruff persona to his role while Brody is this comical man determined to get rich. Seydoux’s performance is definitely the best in the segment as someone who is the embodiment of discipline including the way she poses nude in certain ways as well as being Rosenthaler’s greatest motivator. Smith’s small performance as Clampette is full of humor but also someone who understands great art.
Timothee Chalamet and Lyna Khoudri are excellent in their respective roles as student activists Zeffirelli and Juliette with the former being the leader of a revolutionary who would befriend Kremetz who gives him ideas while the latter is a woman who is suspicious over Kremetz yet has feelings for Zeffirelli. The incredible performances of Liev Schreiber, Mathieu Almaric, Stephen Park, Willem Dafoe and Winston Ait Hellal in their respective roles as the TV talk show host, the police commissioner, the chef Nescaffier, the underworld accountant Abacus, and the commissioner’s son Gigi with Schreiber providing some wit in a role inspired by Dick Cavett while Almaric and Park both provide some humor in their respective roles with Park being the most restrained as a cook who makes great recipes. Dafoe provides humor as this accountant who is aware he’s in deep shit but is also hungry for food while Hellal brings a restraint to a kid who is quite intelligent but also knows Morse code.
The French Dispatch is a marvelous film from Wes Anderson. Featuring a great ensemble cast, dazzling visuals, incredible art direction, and an exhilarating music soundtrack. It is a film that explores the world of journalism as a magazine publishes its final issues that is filled with wonderful stories set in a small town in France. In the end, The French Dispatch is a remarkable film from Wes Anderson.
Wes Anderson Films: Bottle Rocket - Rushmore - The Royal Tenenbaums - The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - Hotel Chevalier - The Darjeeling Limited - Fantastic Mr. Fox - Moonrise Kingdom - Castello Cavalcanti - The Grand Budapest Hotel - Isle of Dogs - Asteroid City – The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar - The Swan - The Rat Catcher - Poison - The Phoenician Scheme - The Auteurs #8: Wes Anderson
Wes Anderson Film Soundtracks: Bottle Rocket - Rushmore - The Royal Tenenbaums - The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - Seu Jorge-The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions - The Darjeeling Limited - Fantastic Mr. Fox - (Moonrise Kingdom) – (The Grand Budapest Hotel) – (Isle of Dogs) – (The French Dispatch) - (Asteroid City) - (The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar)
© thevoid99 2022
Directed by Wes Anderson and screenplay by Anderson from a story by Anderson, Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman, and Kunichi Nomura, Isle of Dogs is the story of a young boy in a futuristic, dystopian-Japan who travels to an island where dogs are living in exile due to an illness outbreak. The film is Anderson’s second stop-motion animated feature as it plays into a boy’s search for his dog where a group of dogs decide to help the boy as well as deal with being in exile because of a leader who hates dogs as the story is narrated by Courtney B. Vance. Featuring the voice cast of Bryan Cranston, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Jeff Goldblum, Koyu Rankin, Greta Gerwig, Frances McDormand, Scarlett Johansson, Ken Watanabe, Fisher Stevens, Yoko Ono, Harvey Keitel, Liev Schreiber, Bob Balaban, Tilda Swinton, Frank Wood, and F. Murray Abraham. Isle of Dogs is a majestic and adventurous film from Wes Anderson.
Following a mandate to ban dogs from a Japanese by its mayor claiming that dogs are spreading diseases as they’re consumed by a mysterious illness, the film revolves around a young boy who travels to an island of trash to find his dog. It’s a film with a simple story as it explores conspiracy theories and paranoia from the perspective of humans while the dogs are dealing with hunger, an on-going flu, and the horrific environment they live in. Wes Anderson’s screenplay opens with a prologue of a legend about the arrival of dogs in Japan and how it lead to this conflict between man vs. dog until a boy came to the aid of dogs and would make them man’s best friend. It’s a story that would be replayed in this futuristic version of Japan where a mayor who hates dogs decides to create something to get the public to have dogs banned as it is told in four parts by an unseen narrator. Yet, the main narrative involves the mayor’s nephew Atari (Koyu Rankin) wanting to retrieve his dog Spots (Liev Schreiber) whom he got just after Atari had been injured in a train crash that killed his parents.
The need to retrieve Spots would have Atari land on this island filled with trash that was also the former site of a factory and amusement park where he would meet five dogs in Chief (Bryan Cranston), Boss (Bill Murray), Rex (Edward Norton), King (Bob Balaban), and Duke (Jeff Goldblum) where four of the dogs would help Atari find Spots but Chief is reluctant as he’s a stray dog that hasn’t known any loyalty to a master as he’s known to bite. Yet, the dogs would deal with a rescue team that has robotic dogs to attack where Chief decides to help Atari as it would play into this development between dog and boy, respectively, as it would also lead to some revelations to the former while giving the latter a sense of hope. The film also has subplots as it relates to students wanting to go against the mayor led by American foreign exchange student Tracy Walker (Greta Gerwig) who believes there’s a conspiracy happening involving the mayor and his cohorts where they are also attempting to shut down a scientist in Professor Watanabe (Akira Ito) from creating a cure for the dogs.
Anderson’s direction is definitely intoxicating for the way he uses Japanese art and its architecture to create a world that is futuristic in some ways but also harkens to the tradition of the past. With the help of animation director Mark Waring, Anderson creates a film that does play into his visual sensibilities in terms of his precise compositions, camera movements, and offbeat humor. Yet, he would also utilize broad visuals to play into this world as the island of trash is desolate but also wild with rumors of cannibalistic dogs who eat other dogs. There are also these elements where Anderson uses satire as it relates to the rule and rhetoric of Mayor Kobayashi (Kunichi Nomura) that has similarities to current events in the world in how dogs are being treated as they’re sent to this island of trash with more plans to get rid of them altogether. Especially as Kobayashi has a henchman in Major Domo (Akira Takayama) who is trying to create more chaos where a lot of the visuals play into elements of suspense and drama.
Anderson’s direction also has these tender moments as it relates to the developing relationship between Chief and Atari as it has bits of humor and drama with Chief carrying a secret of his own about his life as a stray dog when the subject of favorite foods emerge during a conversation with the other dogs. Many of the dialogue between the dogs are in English while the humans, with the exception of Tracy and a few translators, are in Japanese. It allows audience to see a world that is unique while unsettling at times as it plays into this growing tension for truth with the people in this Japanese city being told false things while Tracy is trying to reveal the truth with Atari making plans to return to the city with the dogs in the hope that the truth will come out. Overall, Anderson crafts a mesmerizing and exhilarating film about a boy who travels to an island of trash to find his dog.
Cinematographer Tristan Oliver does excellent work with the film’s cinematography in the way many of the backgrounds are lit as well as the presentation of some of the interior settings in day and night in terms of the lighting. Editors Andrew Weisblum, Ralph Foster, and Edward Busch do brilliant work with the editing as it has elements of jump cuts and other stylish cut to play into the action and suspense as well as some of the drama. Production designers Paul Harrod and Adam Stockhausen, with art director Curt Enderle, do incredible work with the look of the city in all of its grand detail as it is a major highlight of the film as well as how it would look in the day and night as is the island of trash with its decayed buildings and other places in the island.
Visual effects supervisors Lev Kolobov and Tim Ledbury do fantastic work with the visual effects as it is mainly bits of set dressing including scenes shown on a TV screen for the characters to watch as it help play into the stop-motion animated look. Sound editors Wayne Lemmer and Christopher Scarabosio do superb work with the sound in some of the sound effects involving the drones and robotic dogs as well as in some of the locations the characters are in. The film’s music by Alexandre Desplat is amazing for its usage of Japanese percussion and string music to help play into the drama and suspense as it’s another major highlight of the film while music supervisor Randall Poster provides a soundtrack that include a few score pieces of films by Akira Kurosawa and a song by The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band that play for some of the adventure scenes.
The casting by Douglas Aibel and Kunichi Nomura is incredible as it features some small yet notable voice roles from co-writer Nomura as Mayor Kobayashi in all of his grandiose persona as well as Yoko Ono as Professor Watanabe’s assistant, Ken Watanabe as a head surgeon who helped Atari following the train crash, Fisher Stevens as a dog named Scraps whom Spots meet as he would tell him about cannibal dogs, Kara Hayward as a female dog named Peppermint, Anjelica Huston as a mute dog, Frank Wood as translator machine, Yojiro Noda as a news anchor, Nijiro Murakami as a school newspaper editor, Akira Ito as Professor Watanabe as a scientist who wants to disprove Kobayashi’s claims while wanting to create a cure for the dogs, and Akira Takayama as Kobayashi’s right-hand man Major Domo who would help Kobayashi in creating the anti-dog propaganda.
Liev Schreiber is terrific as Atari’s dog Spots who had been assigned to look after Atari following a near-fatal train crash while Harvey Keitel is superb as Gondo as a dog who leads a group of his own. F. Murray Abraham and Tilda Swinton are fantastic in their respective roles as Jupiter and Oracle as the former is a dog that helps the other dogs in finding Spots by showing them the way while the latter is a dog that claims to see the future as he’s really more into TV. Frances McDormand is excellent as Interpreter Nelson who would reveal the things that Kobayashi is saying while Greta Gerwig is wonderful as Tracy Walker as an American foreign exchange student who helps lead a student revolt against Kobayashi. Scarlett Johansson is brilliant as Nutmeg as a show-dog that convinces Chief to help Atari as she sees Atari as someone that can find the goodness in Chief.
The quartet of Bob Balaban, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Murray, and Edward Norton in their respective roles as King, Duke, Boss, and Rex are brilliant as the four dogs who have been treated well by their masters as they’re willing to help Atari find Spots while dealing with Chief’s reluctance. Koyu Rankin is remarkable as Atari as Kobayashi’s nephew who is eager to find his dog as he endures injuries and heartache as he is determined to get his dog back while befriending the other dogs including Chief. Finally, there’s Bryan Cranston in a phenomenal performance as Chief as a stray dog who has endured being captured and in a lot of fights who is reluctant to help Atari due to his own mistrusts towards humans where he later finds a sense of trust as well as a role that is far more important than himself.
Isle of Dogs is a tremendous film from Wes Anderson. Featuring a great cast, gorgeous visuals, top-notch stop-motion animation, amazing set designs, and a thrilling score by Alexandre Desplat. The film is an exciting yet compelling adventure film that takes a simple concept and inject some real-life allegories about the world as it all plays for a boy’s love for his dog. In the end, Isle of Dogs is a spectacular film from Wes Anderson.
Wes Anderson Films: Bottle Rocket - Rushmore - The Royal Tenenbaums - The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - Hotel Chevalier - The Darjeeling Limited - Fantastic Mr. Fox - Moonrise Kingdom - Castello Cavalcanti - The Grand Budapest Hotel - The French Dispatch - Asteroid City - The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar - The Swan - The Rat Catcher - Poison - The Phoenician Scheme - The Auteurs #8: Wes Anderson
Wes Anderson Film Soundtracks: Bottle Rocket - Rushmore - The Royal Tenenbaums - The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - Seu Jorge-The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions - The Darjeeling Limited - Fantastic Mr. Fox - (Moonrise Kingdom) – (The Grand Budapest Hotel) – (Isle of Dogs)
© thevoid99 2018
