As an avid fan of Wes Anderson films, “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou,” released Dec. 2004, is one of my favorite movies.
Steve Zissou, played by Bill Murray, is a famous oceanographer who has reached a depressing point in his life. His recent films have done poorly and his best friend was just eaten alive by a supposed mythical jaguar shark. Steve declares that he is going to seek revenge on the shark by hunting him down and killing him, possibly with dynamite. Amid his wife threatening to leave him, an unexpected unknown son (Owen Wilson) and his best friend dying, Steve begins his hunt for the mythical jaguar shark.
Steve, his new son, a beautiful young reporter (Cate Blanchett), unpaid interns from the University of North Alaska and his unique crew set sail on the Belafonte in hunt of the jaguar shark.
The dry wit and humor during their adventure make this journey a hilarious catastrophe of events. They encounter gun wielding pirates, mutiny, extraordinary rescue missions on the Ping Islands and competition for love. The movie is riddled with extraordinarily witty lines, creative characters and amazing cinematography. The hunt for the jaguar shark seems to be an impossible task; however, it eventually reunites the distraught Steve Zissou and his crew and brings them back into the oceanography spotlight.
Anderson is a native-born Texan and grew up in Houston. He started his filmmaking career while at the University of Texas when he met Owen Wilson, who helped co-write the movie “Bottle Rocket” in 1996. Wes Anderson wrote “Rushmore,” released in 1998, based on inspiration from his high school experience at St. John’s School in Houston where the movie was filmed. Anderson is known for his use of exceedingly dry humor, unique, bright primary colors and methodical camera shots in his cinematography.
In 2001, Anderson released “The Royal Tenenbaums,” featuring Gene Hackman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. Anderson then released “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” in 2004 and “The Darjeeling Limited” in 2007, starring Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman and Adrien Brody, who play three brothers traveling through India after their father’s death.
“Fantastic Mr. Fox,” Anderson’s newest film, was originally a children’s story written by Roald Dahl and published in 1970. The story is about Mr. Fox, played by George Clooney, and his family, whose den is located in a hill near the evil farmers Boggis, Bunce, and Bean. Mr. Fox steals food from the farmers, but they become fed up with it and decide to exterminate him and his family. The Foxes encounter other animals living in the hill, including Weasel played by Anderson himself and Badger played by Bill Murray. The animals work together to fight back against the farmers in order to continue stealing food. Anderson has taken this classic story by Roald Dahl to create his first animated movie.
To be released in November, this movie is sure to be another fantastic Anderson film characterized by his signature dry humor and distinctive visual style.
