inspirit wrote:

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saw119 wrote:

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It's an incredibly dense film scriptwise. In fact the script is sensational. So yeah, I love it but I love all his films. 

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 Yes! It was incredibly dense visually too, there were frames packed with so much stuff it was impossible to take it all in. I think I'll have to freeze frame when the bluray comes out. I loved the tableaux vivant (unsure about that plural) recurring through the film. The whole thing was gorgeous, exquisite production design, striking cinematography.

It's loaded with obscure references, and I assume a great many that go over my head. It's also quite funny too, in a gentle way.

There was a group of old ladies in the screening I saw, obviously a cinema group, who discussed the film afterward. Their main criticism was how they could not emotionally connect with the characters. It's the standard criticism of Anderson films, and I have to agree that it is true of this film. He's proven that he can do 'emotionally moving' within his style - I found Moonrise Kingdom quite touching - so it's an aesthetic choice, to make the visual effect the primary thing.

I was slightly disappointed not to see 'Tip-Top' in the film in person; I thought I read that JC had a non-speaking cameo, but if he did, I missed it. My main criticism was the presence of Chalemet: I just don't get it; yes, he's a bonny lad, but his acting is lifeless. The remainder of the cast were pretty well perfect in every way.

Overall it's just wonderful that a film like this can be made and released to a mass audience.

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Exactly...what you said about Chalamet. The guy irritates me to not end! He pretty much ruined the new Dune movie for me, too. Substanceless pretty boy. 

A different actor could've changed everything for both movies, I assume. 

Fran wrote:

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inspirit wrote:

         I was slightly disappointed not to see 'Tip-Top' in the film in person; I thought I read that JC had a non-speaking cameo, but if he did, I missed it. 

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 We are going to see it tonight. From what I understood from the interviews, Tip-Top's only presence is Aline playing on a jukebox somewhere. I suppose I'll find out tonight. I was wondering if the brief clean shaven look around the time of the premiere was just being in character as Tip-Top for that event.

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There's also a scene where a small poster of Tip-Top gets ripped off the wall and tossed. Lol

saw119 wrote:

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I know the standard criticism of Anderson seems to revolve around an inability to empathise with characters and a lack of emotion but I usually find his films very touching and The French Dispatch was really quite moving, I thought. Granted, the emotion is often undercut with a deadpan humour but it is there, or it is for me anyway. 

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 It's there for me too, I've never wholly agreed with the criticism, but I can understand it. Though I admit I wasn't moved much by French Dispatch, even though I thought it superb... but I will have to watch it again.

I've often been very moved by characters in Anderson's films: the central couple in Moonrise were very affecting throughout (I love you, but you don't know what you're talking about), and the sections with Bruce Willis and Sam; in Darjeeling, when Irrfan Khan collapses in the river, it was heartbreaking; in Grand Budapest when it seemed for a while that Agatha had been decapitated, that was awful... these spring to mind, there must be many more.

 

The French Dispatch is coming out in Australia soon so I'm very excited to finally see it. I've never seen Chalamet before but I guess I'll find out what he's like soon.

I was under the impression that Anderson's appeal stems from how constructed and artificial his films are. I think he sets out to explore how films shouldn't have to obey any rules regarding believability. The sort of meticulously/delicately constructed lives and scenes we see in his films are unachievable in the real world, so I think he really amplifies that. His films seem deliberately fantastical. It's all very stylised. I'd rather him be stylised than be clueless about his direction.

I absolutely understand the criticism of how his characters often aren't expressive/hard to connect to, but that has never been a problem for me because I don't necessarily want to connect to them. Sometimes I just wanna watch these strange characters interacting and going on weird adventures. His films are just fun, busy, entertaining, and interesting. That's all I really need to have a good time.
Another criticism I hear is about how his films look the same, which is true, but that's the point of having a distinct style. I'd like to imagine watching Wes Anderson's films as collecting your favourite novellas - why get random editions that are all different sizes and have different covers if you have the opportunity to get the same size books with matching spines that fit nicely on a shelf as a set? This analogy is silly, probably obscure, but that's just how I see it. Sometimes Anderson seems more like an author writing an anthology than a director making a bunch of different movies. The text of each story is different but they all have a similar feel (aka Anderson's style links them together).

This comment is long but I can't help myself - I'm just so excited about The French Dispatch. I haven't seen a new film since The Lighthouse!