Finally can we watch Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch” in cinema, one and a half year after it was to have its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.
About the movie:
Release date: 22.10.2021
Directed by: Wes Anderson
Age limit: 15
Genre: Drama, Comedy
And it’s one of the most Wes Anderson(y) film he has ever made, for better or worse. The good thing is the exquisite table with elaborate details and devilish symmetry, almost as if he is trying to be a kind of Roy Andersson in Wonderland.
The bad thing, which is not really that bad, is the creeping feeling that there is really nothing significant hiding behind the sparkling and inviting facade.
The movie can be experienced as an unserved tribute to the golden age of journalism around the middle of the last century, where great personalities portrayed the wide world with sharp pens.
One may have to add the goodwill to find a deeper meaning behind Anderson’s visual twists and turns, but the film is so fresh, funny and quirky, that the goodwill creates itself.
Colourful journalists
“The French Dispatch” is the name of an American publication in the fictional French city of Ennui. The longtime editor Arthur Howitzer Jr. (Bill Murray) manages a pair of colourful journalists, who send weekly reports from the big world home to the parent newspaper in Kansas, USA.
Some of the characters and stories will be based on things Wes Anderson has read in, for example, The New Yorker.
The film is divided into five chapters, the first of which deals with the editor’s death, the second is a travel letter from Ennui (filmed in Angoulême in south-west France), and the last three chapters depict the creation of three cases in different sections of the newspaper.
J.K.L. Berensen (Tilda Swinton) writes about the unique artist Moses Rosenthaler (Benicio Del Toro), Lucinda Krementz (Frances McDormand) covers a youth uprising via the youngsters, revolutionary Zeffirelli (Timothée Chalamet), while Roebuck Wright (Jeffrey Wright) writes about the police chief’s legendary chef, Nescaffier (Stephen Park).
Pure joy of storytelling
No one but Wes Anderson makes movies like this. And no one else CAN, even if they wanted to. A new director would be ridiculed by all of the film companies already after the first sentence of the pitch.
However, Wes Anderson has gained a large following, both within the industry and among the audience, during his 25 years as a supplier of whimsical comedies with a very distinctive design language, such as “Rushmore”, “The Royal Tenenbaums”, “Life under water with Steve Zissou” and “Moonrise Kingdom”.
“The French Dispatch” is very similar to his previous live action film, the festive “The Grand Budapest Hotel”, both in terms of format play, color use and storytelling technique, and will satisfy those who want more of the same.
At the same time, one may ask whether Anderson should renew himself, but when he delivers a film like this, which almost overflow with crazy whimsy, witty humour and pure joy of storytelling, one can easily forgive that it’s similar to his other work.
Excess of talent
The cast is, to put it mildly, impressive, with several of Anderson’s old partners, but also some new ones. A film that can afford to use greats like Christoph Waltz, Elisabeth Moss, Owen Wilson, Mathieu Amalric, Saorise Ronan, Willem Dafoe, Liev Schreiber and Edward Norton in tiny roles, has a serious surplus of talent.
The main characters’ personalities and appearances span a wide range, but all of them hit Anderson’s slightly humorous tone with restrained overlay, clear personal characteristics and a comic timing that suits the film’s nimble editing rhythm.
It’s hard to pick a favourite, but it’s definitely a highlight to see Frances McDormand’s Lucinda Krementz almost become part of her own cause, clearly inspired by the real youth uprising of 1968.
In addition, Lea Seydoux offers a lot of herself in rather special chapter about the mad artist, his female prison guard and an avid art collector (Adrien Brody).
Festive fireworks
The script, written by Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola, Hugo Guinness and Jason Schwartzman, pays homage to a type of journalism that is almost non-existent. In today’s media landscape, few have the time, money and patience to dig into the case for months for a single article.
The film celebrates the endangered breed of editors who dare to let their journalist spend time getting thoroughly acquainted with issues and explaining them in a broader perspective to their readers.
Wes Anderson’s intentions may be noble, but critics may object that the message is a bit vague and drowns in the endless series of whimsical vignettes and situation-based comedy.
For my own part, this plays less of a role. “The French Dispatch” is in fact a festive firework of a film, which allows Wes Anderson to wallow in tropics and clichés that he himself has created.
He may repeat himself, but when you have such a clear, different and distinctive cinematic voice, it would be a shame not to use it.
You can now watch it on FACT Liverpool, 88 Wood St.
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By Ingrid Aase-Nilsen
Ropewalks Wrap 