DIRECTOR Wes Anderson has always had a profound way of portraying his passion in his movies. Whether it is his affinity for 60s pop music or intriguing paintings, Anderson’s inclusion of them in his films makes him a gem in modern cinema.
His latest feature film, The French Dispatch, is a perfect testimony to this, which sees him pay tribute to his love for France and the art of journalism. As he nicely puts it: “I always wanted to do a collection of short stories. The second thing I always to do was to make a movie about The New Yorker.”
Hence, his love for the publication and country sets the mood for the story. In fact, the motion picture tells a series of tales through the framework of a fictional newspaper known as The French Dispatch.
The publication house, which is located in a fictional French town called Ennui-sur Blase, is led by editor Arthur Howitzer Jr. (Bill Murray). Although the framework begins with his death, The French Dispatch follows the stories of the final farewell issue of the newspaper.
The issue consists of three major articles. The first one follows the journey of Rosenthaler (Benicio Del Toro), a homicidal prisoner who creates artworks of his lover, Simone (Lea Seydoux). His drawings capture the attention of an art dealer (Adrien Brody), who eventually makes him famous.
Set in the 1960s, the second story revolves around a group of university students. Both male and female students’ protests to change their university’s manifesto. In the process, the main character, Zeffirelli (Timothee Chalamet) begins a fling with journalist Lucinda Krementz (Frances McDormand).
While the last story centres around Roebuck Wright’s(Jeffrey Wright) trip to try the dishes by officer and chef Lt Nescaffier (Stephen Park). But during his visit, he gets into trouble as The Commissaire’s (Mathieu Almaric) son gets kidnapped by a criminal (Edward Norton).
As a fellow journalist myself, the movie did indeed feel like a love letter. The depictions of the industry and journalists’ creative process hit close to home. As a matter of fact, the film does justice to journalism by providing a good glimpse into the workings of the business.
However, it misses the beat when it taps into the fantasy of journalists being paid handsomely. This is because, in reality, the bulk of writers’ lives do not match this vision. Regardless, Anderson makes up for any flaws with cinematography.
For instance, its colour grading, camera angles, zoom and animations do an excellent job at highlighting the essence of the scenes throughout the movie. The scene of the police chasing the criminal in the third story is one example of this. This scene in particular perfectly demonstrated Anderson’s brilliant cinematographic skills.
The other appeal of the film is its cast members. All the actors got to shine as their characters. Some even delivered wicked humorous lines. In particular, the actors in the first story definitely had the upper hand in capturing the audiences’ attention.
Though the closing chapter does rival the primary tale with its action sequences, the storyline for the first chapter was far more interesting. Nevertheless, The French Dispatch is still a solid movie overall as it delivers most parts of the movie.
Its comedic, upbeat and thrilling nature makes it a delight to watch! This is especially true if you appreciate Anderson’s previous masterpieces.
