The French Dispatch [Wes Anderson]

Loved this. For all the reviews claiming it’s ‘Wes Anderson being more Wes Anderson’, I actually felt it had a distinct flavour to his recent work. While it’s unmistakably one of his films, there’s a melancholy and maybe even tragic feeling to it that sets it apart. That was present at points in Grand Budapest, but there are far less cartoonish antics here… well, except for the actual cartoon chase sequence!

There’s a very lavish homage to Jacques Tati’s Mon Oncle a minute or two into the film, and I think that sets the tone: for all the talk about it being a celebration of journalism (and it is that, with a delightfully indulgent, lavish script reflecting its characters’ indulgent, lavish writing styles) it’s also a big old celebration of French cinema.

The middle segment is basically Wes Anderson making a playful but loving satire of Godard’s La Chinoise, and the last section is a spectacularly entertaining take on the suspense and heist stories of Clouzot. It’s all delightful, and framed with that usual level of total care and precision Anderson is known for. It’s less laugh out loud funny than some of his other films, but the man still knows how to frame a hell of a gag. His sparing use of colour here makes for some incredible moments, and there’s some fantastic bits where he gives us a different perspective on the diorama sets he has created (one scene has the camera joyously spin around a space we’ve already seen in that familiar, planimetric - to quote Bordwell - style).

So yes, a Wes Anderson film through and through, but for all that was familiar there was also something for me refreshing and even surprising about the tone and mood he shoots for here.

Also impressive to see how Anderson now has assembled such a large cast of regulars he’s able to cast the likes of Willem Dafoe or Saoirse Ronan for tiny roles that can be measured in shots, let alone scenes.