I truly don’t know where I stand here in 2021 in regards to Quentin Tarantino and Wes Anderson.
Pastiche is often a derogative when it comes to filmmaking, which is wild because musicians who use an array of influences and styles to create art are often labeled as eclectic or worldly or cultured. When Tarantino outright recreates a scene from an old movie or is generally credited for an iconic line that he straight-up stole from Charley Varrick, we think less of him for that than we do of a hiphop artist who samples Herbie’s “Watermelon Man” or Steely Dan’s “Black Cow.” Wes Anderson does what Tarantino does but is such a distinct visual stylist that I think his overt use of earlier works got a pass for longer.
I soured on Tarantino around Inglourious Basterds, finding little to like in that, The Hateful Eight, Django Unchained, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood outside of some some masterful camera movements and incredible casting decisions. The weird tangents into history revisionism also feel off to me: that Basterds and Once Upon use essentially the same punchline (instead of the bad thing continuing, there is a moment of cathartic, gratuitous violence that disrupts it) also felt lazy.
For what it’s worth, Jackie Brown and Pulp Fiction are masterpieces, so coasting a little in one’s career after such output is understandable. I’m roping Tarantino in here rather than in 2019 as originally planned, because I don’t want to talk about Once Upon a Time any more. I vibed with long stretches of that film but I don’t much like DiCaprio. (Pitt and Margot Robbie remain two of my favorite active actors.)
Anderson is also prone to appropriating cinematic compositions. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou seems to engage with this reputation, as the titular Zissou seethes at the notion that his underwater documentaries are staged or scripted. It is poetic late in the film when Team Zissou must actually steal from his rival Alistair Hennessy to achieve their goals.
So I’m in an Interzone on these guys, because of the pastiche thing but also because I try to resist the tendency toward auteur theory that chokes the dialogue around movies. Even for filmmakers who direct, write, and contribute on editing, lighting, or first-unit shooting, there are still dozens if not hundreds of other people who work on the films. Auteurism is an exhausting topic and like the Great Man misconceptions about history, springs out of our need to make myths, rationalize bad behavior, simplify complex topics, and whatnot. I haven’t even watched an Anderson-directed movie since giving up on The Darjeeling Limited at the time of its release, so I’m 14-plus years behind on his films. Maybe he made a huge pivot and I’m full of shit! (It does not appear to be so. But maybe. —Ed.)
The Life Aquatic is the most coarse of Anderson’s films, with Bill Murray’s jaded lead correspondingly the most abrasive of protagonists, holding more in common with the shouty pissbabies* of Paul Thomas Anderson’s films than he does with Max Fischer. He railroads his crew and financiers, bullshits like he breathes, reacts to rejection with hostility, and seems to be having a multi-decade midlife crisis. The film very wisely couches this sore tooth of a human being within a visually stunning world of (Henry Selick stop motion) neon sea creatures, an incredible setting (Zissou’s ship The Belafonte), and a gallery of characters who are used to Zissou’s behaviors and have learned to live with it. The cast is a jaw-dropping group of acting titans including but not limited to Anjelica Huston, Cate Blanchett, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Owen Wilson, Michael Gambon, and Bud Cort (as the “bond company stooge” lol). And it cannot be overstated that the Wes Anderson period of Bill Murray’s career takes full advantage of his slouchy shoulders, hangdog delivery, and sad eyes.
This is also the most quotable of Anderson’s films (that I’ve seen). And it’s the only Wes Anderson movie that has moved me to tears on every viewing. And I have yet to mention that goddamned beautiful soundtrack by Seu Jorge, with bossanova and acoustic covers of David Bowie songs. Using Bowie as the thematic muse that ties the room together was a brilliant move. Bowie was a complicated person with a wild career that veered between shallow pop songs and super arty instrumentals (and often on the same album). And his performance artist impulses resulted in countless iconic costumes and hairstyles. But the most relevant thing about Bowie was his longevity and how, like Zissou, he had to reckon with the idea of outliving his superstardom and where you go from there. (I’ve never seen Bowie talk about the Life Aquatic but if someone has access to an interview, please send it my way. —Ed.) I guess there is a universality about the song itself, but “Life on Mars?” moves me so much even though I understand very little Portuguese.
Back to the topic of the week, I wonder if Anderson was thinking of Michael Mann or The Battle of Algiers (or hell, Saving Private Ryan) when he was composing the gunfight sequence in the film. It is absurd and slightly comic, but it is also matter-of-fact in its violence, making the act of firing a gun upsetting rather than glamorous just as with the films and filmmakers I mentioned.
I guess that I’ve made up my mind by now, huh? I guess I am still in on Wes Anderson.
Other 2004 candidates: Shrek 2; Closer; Sideways; 2046
*I am unable to engage with The Master, There Will Be Blood, and Phantom Thread on a narrative level. I cannot stand the protagonists of those films.
I turn 40 in December. To commemorate the milestone, I’m writing 40 short biographical essays pertaining to a movie per year of my life.