Royal: Look, I know I’m going to be the bad guy on this one, but I just want to say the last six days have been the best six days of probably my whole life.
Narrator: Immediately after making this statement, Royal realized that it was true.
The World of Wes Anderson
Royal: Look, I know I’m going to be the bad guy on this one, but I just want to say the last six days have been the best six days of probably my whole life.
Narrator: Immediately after making this statement, Royal realized that it was true.
“Unfortunately, [those who booed as the credits rolled at the press screening] led into the dark before I could debate them on the essential role imagination plays in Anderson’s filmography, which would surely have been an exciting time for us both.”
“What’s more interesting, I think, are the increasingly dark tones at the edges of Anderson’s Technicolor dream. This is a director whose last live-action film ended with fascism descending on Central Europe, so it’s not exactly new, but still, it’s striking how much of The French Dispatch, which began shooting way back in the fall of 2018, turns out to mirror the cultural flash points of the past 14 months — somehow, Hollywood’s least-contemporary filmmaker has made a movie all about prison, protests, police. Perhaps all those boos were merely an expression of dismay: If even Wes Anderson is picking up on this stuff, we’re fucked.”
Hannah Strong, Little White Lies
“This is also arguably the director’s his most detail-oriented work; the runtime flies by as we become immersed in the meticulously constructed world. Anderson isn’t just a filmmaker, he’s an architect, crafting intricate worlds for viewers to get lost in. This one requires a little concentration to follow all the dialogue and storylines, but it’s a pleasure to be in the hands of a storyteller who cares so deeply about every aspect of his work.”
Robbie Collin, Daily Telegraph UK 5/5
The film “is the cinematic equivalent of a brakeless freewheel through a teeming bazaar – if said bazaar was stacked with beautiful vintage artefacts, all meticulously arranged.”
“The film is a hymn to human curiosity and compulsions – Anderson is clearly besotted with the style of journalism that hammers away at niche pet topics over thousands of words. But it’s also about the necessary incompleteness of a curious life.”
“Like his latest menagerie of rovers, visionaries and outsiders, Anderson does nothing by halves.”
‘It’s a significant breakthrough to see the director engaging with sexuality and violence as aspects of real life. Yes, there’s still an ironic distance between such elements and the audience, but ‘The French Dispatch’ feels less safe than Anderson’s earlier work, and that’s a good thing.”
“Apart from Ernst Lubitsch or Jacques Tati, it’s hard to imagine another director who has put this level of effort into crafting a comedy, where every costume, prop and casting choice has been made with such a reverential sense of absurdity. If that sounds airless or exhausting, think again: Sure, it takes work to unpack, but the ensemble ensures that Anderson’s humorous creations feel human.”
Credit: Photos de Laura
** no spoilers here ** If you click through, you are on your own.
Peter Bradshaw, Guardian 4/5 stars
“To which I can only say … sure, yes, more fun, more buoyancy, more elegance, more marvellously eccentric invention, more originality. It might not be at the very zenith of what he can achieve but for sheer moment-by-moment pleasure, and for laughs, this is a treat.”
Nicholas Barber, BBC 4/5 stars
“The French Dispatch has to be one of the most labour-intensive films in existence. It makes The Grand Budapest Hotel look as if it was improvised over a weekend and shot with a smartphone. “
“There is something delightfully perverse about Anderson’s hyper-industrious treatment of such flimsy material. His craftsmanship is so overwhelming that unless you’re already allergic to his tics and trademarks, you should get a buzz from the film’s many, many incidental pleasures. One thing’s for sure: there is nothing quite like The French Dispatch – except Anderson’s other films, of course.”
David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter
“While The French Dispatch might seem like an anthology of vignettes without a strong overarching theme, every moment is graced by Anderson’s love for the written word and the oddball characters who dedicate their professional lives to it. There’s a wistful sense of time passing and a lovely ode to the pleasures of travel embedded in the material, along with an appreciation for the history of American foreign correspondents who bring their perceptive outsider gaze to other cultures. “
“Anderson’s movies may be pretty, whimsical flights of fancy, but they also express genuine curiosity about the strange nature of human relations.”
“On a certain level, the fate of the paper suggests that this kind of handmade approach to distinctive human experiences died long ago, and Anderson’s salute to an earlier era may also be his version of an elegy. Certainly, the precise, discursive storytelling of “The French Dispatch” is in constant peril, but the very existence of this delightful movie is proof that it hasn’t gone away yet.”
The French Dispatch made its debut today at the Festival de Cannes 2021!
More photos over on the Rushmore Academy Facebook page.
The film received a nine-minute standing ovation:
Variety: “Wes Anderson’s New Movie Will Shoot in Spain From September, Tilda Swinton Among Cast “
“Wes Anderson is shooting his new movie in Spain, with production set to begin in September.
In a recent interview with Variety, Tilda Swinton revealed that she will star in the project, specific details of which are being kept closely under wraps…
The project is believed to have originally planned to shoot in Rome, but moved to Spain earlier this year. Sets resembling a desert landscape have been going up in Chinchón, a small town located southeast of Madrid, over the last two months, as reported by Spanish outlet El Pais. However, the film isn’t believed to necessarily be a western.”
IBC: “Behind the Scenes: The French Dispatch”
Some highlights (spoilers ahead for design nerds):
Variety: Cynthia Hargrave, Producer of ‘Bottle Rocket,’ Dies at 64
Via the Music Film Reporter:
1. Obituary
2. After You’ve Gone – Gene Austin, Candy And CoCo
3. Simone, Naked, Cell Block-J, Hobby Room
4. Fiasco – Gus Viseur
5. Moses Rosenthaler
6. I’ve Seen That Face Before (Libertango) – Grace Jones
7. Mouthwash De Menthe
8. Sonata for Mandolin and Guitar A-Dur K.331, Adagio – Boris Bjoern Bagger, Detlef Tewes
9. Cadazio Uncles and Nephew Gallery
10. “Inseguimento al Taxi (The Chase)” – Mario Nascimbene
11. The Berensen Lectures at the Clampette Collection
12. L’Ultima Volta – Ennio Morricone
13. Tu M’as Trop Menti – Chantal Goya
14. J’en déduis que je t’aime – Charles Aznavour
15. Fugue No.2 in C minor [The Well-Tempered Clavier – Book 2 BWV 871] – The Swingle Singers
16. Adagio – Georges Delerue
17. Police Cooking
18. The Private Dining Room of the Police Commissioner
19. Kidnappers Lair
20. A Multi-Pronged Battle Plan
21. Blackbird Pie
22. Commandos, Guerillas, Snipers, Climbers and the Jeroboam
23. Animated Car Chase
24. Lt. Nescaffier (Seeking Something Missing…)
25. Aline – Jarvis Cocker
The latest from the MCU drops on Disney+ today and co-stars Wes’ former UT classmate and frequent collaborator Owen Wilson. According to the Irish Times:
“Marvel’s WandaVision channelled David Lynch, and there were moments when the otherwise underwhelming The Falcon and the Winter Soldier threatened to turn into an unofficial sequel to Keanu Reeve’s John Wick. So it was probably inevitable that the Marvel Cinematic Universe would eventually get around to its David Fincher moment.
That, at least, is how Loki (Disney +) is framed by its director, Kate Herron, who describes the series, which airs its first episode on Wednesday, June 9th, as “heavily influenced” by Fincher. Given that Fincher’s most recent project was the dreadful Mank, this might not be quite the endorsement she thinks it is. Nor is it especially accurate – if Loki’s enjoyable if often slight opening episode resembles anything it’s Doctor Who remade by Wes Anderson.”