The French Dispatch (2021) Dir: Wes Anderson
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Acclaimed director Wes Anderson has a unique and unmistakable style that has transcended the industry and formed him a very particular niche in cinematic culture and popularity. When you watch a Wes Anderson film, you know you are going to see certain things.
Immaculate, colourful and symmetrical set design, a talented cast, atypical storytelling and fundamentally endearing and heartfelt emotional themes. This much can certainly be applied to this 2021 outting. Anderson brings his iconic style and eccentricity to the fore once more, and tells an intriguing, unique and refreshing tale that only he can produce.
His writing style is such that you can easily envision this being a successful stageplay - which seems very appropriate, considering much of his work, in this film and others, takes huge visual and thematic inspiration from theatre productions.
He utilises Kodak 35mm filmstocks, in both colour, as well as black and white, to produce a vintage and stunning visual - a substantial level of praise needs to be levied at cinematographer Robert D. Yeoman, a regular colleague of Anderson on these projects.
The narrative is told through a number of smaller narratives, and while it may not be as strong as the likes of The Grand Budapest Hotel, or Moonrise Kingdom, it still manages to be incredibly heartwarming and original.
At just 1 hour and 48 minutes, this is also a film that does not require an entire evening to watch, which is certainly a plus when considering the vast numbers of 3 hour goliaths released these days. Interestingly enough, there is no main protagonist here, instead there are characters who lead the individual stories.
The standout performances come from Jeffrey Wright, Léa Seydoux, Frances McDormand and Benicio del Toro. Each excelled in their roles and carried their stories masterfully, especially Seydoux and del Toro, whose chemistry was wonderful.
Timothée Chalamet continued to show why he is cast in just about everything these days, his natural talent, good looks and charisma making him a perfect fit for an Anderson film.
I also want to give special credit to the likes of Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton and Winsen Ait Hellal - these three had far smaller roles than those mentioned above, but certainly displayed an immense level of talent. I was particularly impressed by Ait Hellal, in how he worked with his much older and more famous co-stars.
Unfortunately, there are just far too many names to mention, and not enough time, so I am reduced to listing out those noteworthy names from the rest of this talented cast, if only to emphasise the shear star power of the film; Mathieu Amalric, Owen Wilson, Saoirse Ronan, Alex Lawther, Christoph Waltz, Edward Norton, Willem Dafoe, Henry Winkler, Tony Revolori, Rupert Friend, Liev Schrieber, Anjelica Huston, Denis Ménochet, Lyna Khoudri, Bill Murray, Wallace Wolodarsky, Jason Schwartzman and Steve Park.
Overall, this was a wonderfully light and typically Wes Anderson story, which uses its aesthetic and premise to tell and interesting, varied and neatly told story that allows audiences to enjoy the film's stellar cast with ease.
Like many of Anderson's films, it has a unique and heartwarming perspective on its themes, allowing such emotions as grief and loss of innocence to be addressed in a lighter, but still profound, manner.
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