By Steve Rose
Translator: Zhu Puyi
Proofreading: Issac
Source: The Guardian
With an unrivalled aesthetic style and an unconventional sense of humor, Anderson is one of the most eccentric directors in film today.
Wes Anderson
The latest stop-motion animation, Isle of Dogs, is one of the most unusual films of his work, but how does it rank among all his titles?
10. Crossing Darjeeling (2007)
Anderson's Train Journey to India is ranked tenth in its list of works for its colour combinations and brilliant visuals. (Is there a better vehicle than the train for Anderson's most famous traverse heel shots?) But the film exposes the self-righteous view that Anderson tried his best to get rid of.
The rich but troubled three white American brothers (dragging a metaphorical LV box) travel through the poor places of the real world, and in order to create a fashionable visual effect, the poor places presented are whitewashed, and a drowning Indian boy becomes a catalyst for repairing the brotherhood.
9. "Life in the Water" (2004)
Let's face it, Bill Murray's Cousteau-like ocean explorer has a violent temper. The ocean explorer remains in a state of gloom and fear in the film because of his family baggage and his obsession with finding the Jaguar Shark, who eats his partner.
Most of the people on this journey are famous, but they seem to have nothing to do. In addition to the huge cross-sectional model of the vessel, the custom-made Adi sneakers, and the absurd marine life (designed by Henry Selik), the most enduring elements of the film are The Songs of David Bowie, interpreted in Portuguese by Sohohei. That's a sign of failure.
8. "Rocket in a Bottle" (1996)
Compared to later films, Anderson's 1996 debut was basically a Dougma film. Regardless of budget or approach, the film presents a sense of arbitrariness and simplicity, with simple and concise dialogue and witty details foreshadowing Anderson's broader creative future.
It's a slightly patchwork, shallow story about three friends who decide to commit (minor) criminal activities, but that's not commensurate with their abilities. It was also Anderson's first collaboration with texas brothers Owen Wilson and Luke Wilson (the latter stealing the limelight in the film) — an auspicious, albeit somewhat flawed start.
7. Knights Hotel (2007)
It's only a 13-minute short, but Anderson's play with just two actors in a single location — ostensibly warming up for "Crossing Darjeeling" — proves that it might be better to have fun without flashy embellishments.
Nothing actually happened: Jensen Schwartzman was hiding in an expensive Paris hotel room, and Natalie Portman came to visit for a final farewell. Peter Zallstedt's Where Are You Going (Go to My Lover?) Playing on the iPod. But this short story captures a moment, a sense of knowing the past and the future. He should have made more short films like this.
6. Isle of Dogs (2018)
Anderson's return to stop-motion animation is one of his most elaborate, and perhaps the most unusual: stray dogs isolated on a Japanese junk island? Cat bureaucrats? Robots attack dogs? Yoko Ono? Why is it set in Japan?
"Why not?" This seems to be Anderson's answer. Anderson's excavation of Japanese culture was largely in-depth and respectful, while also absorbing a wealth of postwar pop culture and traditional arts.
In addition to the many voice actors arranged for The English-speaking lead actor, there are a few Japanese (who speak Japanese) who are familiar with cold humor as usual, even if the literal long-haired dog story lacks a sense of purpose outside of the praise conception. But what a great idea!
5. The Kingdom of the Moonrise (2012)
Anderson's seemingly repetitive fix routine seems to begin with the seventh work: isolated locations (New England island with Scout camps); alternative details (Francis Hardy's tunes played on portable tape recorders); the background design of "Doll's House"; broken families; and right-angle camera movements.
But the story here is pretty sweet: two naïve children elope, and though they don't get into love, conversation, or survival in the wild, what could be more romantic? The film may lack a factual basis and basis — the long-standing complaint about Anderson's films — but it has charm.
4. The Great Fox Daddy (2009)
If you want to see a straightforward adaptation of Roald Dahl's work, get around Anderson. Dahl's country classics are just the starting point of fables, telling stories of growing up, settling down, taking on the responsibilities of both parents, as well as small episodes of fighting wits with farmers and stealing chickens. But the film's uncontrollable pranks certainly capture the essence of Dahl's story.
Anderson found that stop-motion animation was the medium of his dreams, with every visual element, every second of animation time in control. Who knows what kind of story Dahl can tell with a beautiful animal, a badger real estate agent, and a fictional game of "heavy baseball batting", but it should be similar to the film in many ways: Anderson's typical elements are matched with Dahl's home in Buckinghamshire. It's a children's movie for adults, but we're happy with it too.
3. "Youth" (1998)
The story is about a precocious, costumed boy who organizes rehearsals of an overly ambitious theatrical production, but he feels that his talent is not fully appreciated — Wes Anderson, what inspired you? "Youth" is Anderson's most focused film and the darkest one, and he is willing to cover difficult topics that he sometimes avoids in his work.
The film's protagonist, Max Fisher (Jason Schwartzman), may be the exact opposite of what is described in The Graduate. He is melancholy, inconsistent with his student status, and falls in love with his royal sister, but the widowed teacher played by Olivia Williams is not at all the same as Mrs. Robinson. In addition, Marx has an adult love rival, played by Bill Murray, who is also a father-like character for Marx - embarrassment has nowhere to hide.
Marx was not a graduate, but he was a very good man. He was immersed in extracurricular activities (note the Anderson-style montage hauntings), triumphantly dressed in the suit jacket of a prep student, and showed a sense of superiority that was not commensurate with him, but his academic performance was rather poor. It's a come-of-age comedy full of cold humor and novelty, but it could have easily turned into a horror movie.
2. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
By this time, Anderson's star cast grew larger and his own grand design ambitions grew, and he had to build a hotel to house them.
In fact, he built an entire fictional state, the Republic of Zubroca. Set in a thrilling comedy set in the 1930s, this film is like a piece of cake in Mendel's pastry shop: as rich and light as a feather, and of course beautifully packaged. It also found the trump card of Ralph Fiennes.
He used to be a rather important character (like the arch-villain in Harry Potter), but here he established a tone of light-hearted humor: he trimmed his beard neatly and was polite to his guests, but he was prone to emotional out-of-control scolding and violent confrontation. The perfect hotel janitor, played by Fiennes, Mr. Gustav, begins the whole rush story.
At first, he gets a bequeathed painting because he favors a rich older noblewoman, then he is involved in a fabricated murder charge, then escapes from prison and is hunted down at the top of the mountain — how did Anderson stuff all of this into one story?
Everything is meticulously designed and arranged, from wedding cakes to hotels at the foot of the Alps, to pink pastry packaging, from stamps to tassels on room keys. In the Republic of Zubroca, they called it integral art.
But behind the elaborate production is a sense of history, a sense of loss – not only in the characters in the play, but more importantly in Europe, between the two world wars, and its broken aristocratic order.
1. "The Genius Family" (2001)
The film's influence has now permeated the culture, but it was not at all the same when it was released in 2001. Anderson's aesthetic style has been fully formed, and he seems to be a wise man. He can grasp a story with literary depth and portray vivid characters (and can also gather an amazing star cast).
His cold humor is somewhat melancholy, and his excellent grasp of vision and music dwarfs many well-known directors, looking like amateur players. Peter Bogdanovich compares Wes Anderson to his idol, Orson Wells, "Wes Anderson is a rare director who conceives the whole film before shooting."
In many ways, "The Genius" is Anderson's most complete film. Similar to Orson Wells's The Great Ambason, it's a strange story about an eccentric family, but with an unhappy core, so it's all easy to understand.
The father (Gene Hackman) is a liar and the mother (Angelica Houston) has been tortured, and she is too smart to stand everything in life. Their three children (Luke Wilson, Ben Stiller, and Gwyneth Paltrow) were all geniuses but had lost their respective directions unless their talents remained there.
They all returned to their homes in bulky New York, competing for each other's attention and affection. The desirable romantic romance between Wilson and Paltrow is the most sincere and mature in Anderson's work. Paltrow's crocodile dress, panda eyeliner, Wilson's headscarf and sunglasses, Nico's "These Days" soundtrack, these are all perfectly matched.
The style and content are perfectly integrated in the film, which makes people admire its exquisiteness and is touched by the heartache.