Wes Anderson movies are an acquired taste. Whether it’s the instantly recognisable symmetrical cinematography or the signature quivering dolly shots, his movies either satisfy a person’s every need or leave a lot to be desired. It did take me a while to fully envelop his artistry as it entirely depends on one’s taste, and is usually a hit-or-miss.
Idiosyncratic style
Bottle Rocket, a movie that had me crying with laughter, and laughing through tears. A movie I watched once as a child and forgot as I grew older, but I occasionally would remember a scene or two, which unfortunately didn’t give me enough incentive to sit down and properly watch it again.
However, about a year ago, for the umpteenth time, I randomly remembered this long-forgotten flick. This time around, my dive into the Wes Anderson rabbit hole finally began (I’ll now refer to him as WA to refrain from saying his name too much.)
Bottle Rocket was WA’s feature film directorial debut, much to my surprise. Although the movie was not entirely devoid of his soon-to-be signature techniques, WA was trying to figure out what he wanted to do by experimenting with different strokes on the blank canvas that sat ahead of him.
Scenes from “Bottle Rocket” depict WA’s early uses of flat backgrounds, limited colour palettes, and simplicity.
Although the movie wasn’t a commercial success, it received widespread critical acclaim and kickstarted WA’s career.
Upon rewatching Bottle Rocket, intrigue got to me and I decided to watch all ten of his films in chronological order to understand what made his movies special and how he makes them so, which allowed me to observe and study his movies for every minute detail, all of which can be read below.
Signature characteristics
A common cast was something that I noticed around the third movie mark. WA had a knack for using the same actors in almost all of his films, either as cameos or as main roles. Many a time I jumped out of my seat, pointed at the screen, and went “Oh it’s Actor A again!.” One might wonder if it gets boring seeing the same faces over and over again but WA uses a star-studded clique who are renowned for their talent from the likes of Adrien Brody to Bill Murray, all of who are more than capable of becoming the characters they are meant to be and leaving behind their real identity.
A graph showing Wes Anderson’s most casted actors/actresses, and the movies they’ve been in. (credit: u/BoMcCready, Reddit)
Seeing familiar faces pop up every now and then instills a feeling of familiarity within the viewers, and they start realising what to expect. Many people have mentioned how it feels like a shared universe within WA’s movies, and I can see why they came to that conclusion. I think it’s also slightly nostalgic, because the same actors have been in his movies for nearly two decades now.
Symmetry
A choice of his has now grown to be the defining aspect of his entire filmography. It has gotten to the point where an average movie-goer will think “Wes Anderson” when a scene in any movie is a bit more symmetrical than it’s supposed to be. But why does WA utilise this schtick, and to what effect?
It’s not entirely wrong to simply cite it as a characteristic trait, but I think there’s something deeper regarding it. The use of symmetry allows any scene to seem as if it’s contained within a confined reality, hence making viewers feel as if they aren’t subject to the unknown.
Take a look at these two scenes, one from Interstellar (2014), and the other from The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014, directed by WA) Interstellar (2014) The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014, WA)
The scene from Interstellar depicts an endless length of the ocean that seems to go on forever, with nothing even hinting as to what is coming next. A viewer would not know what to expect, and the suspense would be nothing short of breathtaking.
The scene from The Grand Budapest Hotel, however, utilises a background in which characters move through a flat plane perpendicular to the direction of the camera. It tells the viewer “Ok, here’s a hotel, and this is where everything is going to happen.”
In a matter of seconds, anyone watching knows what to expect, because it’s all laid out in front of one to examine. This might be the opposite of suspense, a suspense-killer even, but the idea of WA showing his hand in a single shot just hints at the fact that there’s most greatness to come.
Colour palette
WA prefers to use a limited but bright colour palette, with the colours usually matching the theme of the movie. These colours tend to stay constant throughout that specific movie, usually setting the tone before the story even starts.
The Grand Budapest Hotel
A story has lots of layers, with love being one of its most prominent themes. The pink-purple colour scheme stays constant throughout the entire runtime, acting as a romantic backdrop. The faint pink hue brings about a feeling of tranquility, and considering how the movie is being recounted by one of the protagonists, it shows how much he treasures the memories he loved through. It sheds a positive light on everything that occurs, even the dreadful scenes, no spoilers.
Moonrise Kingdom
A movie is about two coming-of-age children on a ride where they both explore the ideas of sexuality and love. It tackles similar issues as in “The Grand Budapest Hotel”, but from the perspectives of two much younger protagonists. However, this movie is portrayed with a yellow-orange palette, which I think strives to strike the nostalgic nerve in older viewers. The movie has a slight “yellowed with age” tinge, like a long-forgotten memory you bring up at Thanksgiving dinner.
Emotionally flat characters
Look at this scene from “The Darjeeling Limited.”
All three of these characters, for the majority of the movie’s runtime, have flat, emotionless faces. It might sound a bit drab and tedious on paper, but it emphasises any emotions they do end up showing later on down the line. This isn’t just limited to The Darjeeling Limited (I couldn’t help myself), because once again, it’s a recurring theme among all of WA’s movies. However, to me, they represent real people, people who deal with the same emotions and feelings as you and me, people who take time to process life-defining events.
WA movies occasionally have troubled protagonists, most of whom usually have some sort of trouble conveying how they feel about certain things, which gives more reason as to why some characters appear flat.
Lack of naturalism
Naturalism in cinema refers to the efforts taken to hide filmmaking techniques and devices from the audience. In other words, naturalism is the act of creating a believable illusion of reality within a movie.
Most directors try their best to manufacture and present a story to their audience without making it seem manufactured, but WA actively avoids that. During the filming of “Fantastic Mr. Fox”, stop motion animation was used throughout the whole movie. Generally, when animals are the focal point of a stop-motion movie, fake fur is used as it’s easy to mould with hands and get whatever desired effect the director wants.
WA ended up insisting on using real fur, or in this case, goat hair. Animators advised against this, but WA refused to change his mind. He apparently wanted the effort put into the stop-motion visible to the audience, and Saunders, one of the puppet makers, said this.
“He was fearless about breaking all the taboos in stop-motion animation because of his limited experience in it, and I think that worked to his advantage. He wasn’t set in his ways.”
The use of real hair resulted in the animators’ fingers making dents in the fur when they animated frame by frame, which led to a rippling effect when the frames were edited together into a single cohesive shot. This rippling effect was present throughout the entire movie.
Another example of WA’s disdain for naturalism is the way he films realistic scenarios in outlandish ways.
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The scene is from a simple foot chase throughout the hotel corridors. It would usually be a simple thing to film, but WA makes it seem supernatural by making the actors stare directly into the camera, and by using simple jump cuts that confuse the viewers. I can’t exactly show you that with a couple of screengrabs, but you can sit down with your family this weekend and see it for yourself.
The beauty of it all is how the interpretation of a WA movie can be whatever the viewer wants it to be. Every minute detail contained within his movies has a lot to unpack, and each person unpacks it in their own way. Every movie feels so contained, but also boundless at the same time, a perfectly crafted story over which the viewers feel like they can control the outcome. That is what makes Wes Anderson a generational talent.