The Usual Shop

Posted by Steve on May 1st, 2009 in Uncategorized

Today is the fortieth birthday of filmmaker Wes Anderson. In celebratory honor of this event, my post will be about Anderson, his films, and my experiences with them. The following will probably mean nothing to you (will actually contain spoilers) if you haven’t seen Wes Anderson’s movies.

The first Wes Anderson film i saw was The Royal Tenenbaums. I saw that movie in the theater not really knowing anything about it. It’s hard to accurately put to words exactly what happened. I was completely blown away - and confused. That was the true genesis of my realization that a film could be so much more than what i had exposed myself to at that point. That film moved me in ways no film ever had. I remember very specifically the feeling i had during the montage of Margot’s past set to the Ramones’ Judy Is A Punk. I remember knowing exactly how Ritchie and Raleigh felt. Nothing i had seen before in a film had affected me so much.

There are far too many other amazing scenes and ideas from that film to list here, but what ended up sticking out to me the most was the use of music. There were songs i knew very well that took on completely new meanings and songs i hadn’t ever heard before that were suddenly my new favorites because of their association to the emotions i felt for the scenes they were in: Nico’s These Days, The Velvet Underground’s Stephanie Says, Bob Dylan’s Wig Wam, etc. I will argue that no other film maker uses music in his or her films as well as Wes Anderson. I don’t even think his obvious influences (Mike Nichols, Hal Ashby, and Martin Scorcese to name a few) have ever quite got it right. Wes Anderson has and does.

I was exposed next to Rushmore by way of a trailer before some other film i rented (i’ve no idea which now). The clip from the trailer i lauged at for hours into the other feature was during the post-Serpico dinner when Max comments on Peter’s “nurses uniform”:

It turns out that that joke was right in the middle of about the ten funniest minutes in film: from the hilariously over the top high school Serpico production to the arugment and punch in the face to the awkward dinner and conversation… Those scenes are high on my list of entertainment that still makes me laugh ever time i see it.

Rushmore also contains what i consider the greatest montage ever (pardon the disproportions):

Everything i liked about The Royal Tenenbaums was available to me in Rushmore. What’s more, i found that with repeat viewings, Rushmore seemed to fair a little better. Rushmore was one of those movies that i wanted everyone to see. I couldn’t fathom how someone could watch that movie and not instantly fall in love with it. Especially with me there laughing hysterically in instant before every punch line.

It took two viewings of Bottlerocket for it to really sink in. When it did hit home, it was because i realized i wanted to be part of their team. I wanted to hang out with Anthony and Dignan and Bob Mapplethorpe and rob book stores. And once again the soundtrack helped. (How could i have lived so long without the music of Love?)

After Bottlerocket, i wanted to join Wes Anderson’s characters wherever they were. I wanted to be on Team Zissou on the Belefonte, tracking pirates and the tiger shark that ate my friend, listening to Seu Jorge’s quirky Portugese covers of David Bowie songs.

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou trailer is my favorite for any Wes Anderson film and one of my favorite trailers ever.

I also wanted to be on the train lost in India with the Whitman brothers, trying to find myself.

I guess when it comes down to it, Wes Anderson’s films make me feel as though i just really want to find myself. Or maybe i want to feel as though i need to be found. In reality, it’s possible no finding at all is needed, but when i watch one of these films, that’s irrelevant. I get lost in the style and the sounds and the characters and the quotes and the subtleties (”How does an asshole like Bob have such a nice kitchen?”) and the quirks to a depth no other films can produce. With every viewing, i feel there’s more to life the same way i realized with first viewings that there’s so much more to cinema.

Thanks Wes Anderson, happy birthday.