It’s half term and, unless you are a teacher or a child, that means nothing. I however, am one of those two, though I shan’t disclose which.
It means that this week I am free from being amongst loathsome little oiks (children), and so I gave myself the treat of a morning cinema trip. 11 o’clock. The Tuesday Matinée.
Of course I palmed myself full in the face as I realised that everyone takes their kids to the cinema in half term, and entering the Showcase foyer I found myself surrounded by grubby squabs once again. Eff emm ell!!! (fml). I took a swift left turn into screen 5, now showing: The French Dispatch. And to my relief it was child free, just a small smattering of serious cinema goers. These are my people. I was also happy to see that the majority were here on their own, like myself.
-I should point out, I don’t actually hate children, but I feel it gives me more depth of character to portray myself as a grumpy, mysterious loner writer. I am actually quite a happy chap, far from mysterious, and my friend count is dangerously close to being in double figures.-
So, The French Dispatch. Wes Anderson’s latest film and the one I have been waiting for this year. I’ve been counting the days until its release date and today is my second viewing. I’m not gonna lie, at the first viewing I was underwhelmed. Actually, less underwhelmed and more baffled. The French Dispatch moves at such a pace it makes your head spin. It’s heady, and so saturated with Wes Anderson-ness you could chew on it. That was the first viewing anyway, today is a new day.
And glory be, I’ve walked away thinking it’s an absolute scorcher. Would I recommend The French Dispatch? Yes, but only if you’re planning on watching it more than once. It just cannot be digested in one viewing. It’s constructed intricately and (at first) confusingly. You open one door to be met with three more.
It is a visual adaptation of the final edition of the fictional magazine named The French Dispatch. The editor of the magazine, played by Bill Murray, collects one article each from four of his writers. The film is then broken into four chapters, telling the story of each of these articles through the lens of the writers. You can see how it could be initially confusing, yet also the perfect platform for Wes Anderson to go more Wes Anderson than he’s ever gone before and cram the 1 hour 43 minutes with as much colour and quirk as humanly possible.
It’s almost like a ‘best of’ for Wes Anderson characteristics. Every mannerism we’ve come to enjoy of the Texan director is blitzed together in a crazy smoothie of off-beat wonderment. Saying that, it’s expertly crafted; everything has a reason for being included and makes for an extremely watchable film. I already want to see it again.
The ensemble of Wes Anderson casts is forever snowballing, growing with each film. They’re all here, the familiar faces, with the new additions of Benedicio Del Toro and Timothée Chalamet. And I tell you what, they can stay. For me they were two of the most watchable, along with Adrien Brody and Tilda Swinton. Those four names could carry a cast on their own, but that barely scratches the surface of the famous faces here. It really is ridiculous, in a good way. (Actually that’s a good sum-up of the film right there).
Characters are beautifully defined, as with all Anderson films, by their costume design. Some definite contenders for Halloween costumes this year. Standout for me is Timothée Chalamet as the horny-but-quite-good-at-chess Zafirelli B.
As I sit here, writing this review and listening to the French Dispatch soundtrack I feel, and would like you to imagine me, like Zafirelli B. - with wild composer hair, thin cigarette drooping from the side of my wispy-moustachioed mouth, tapping away at a typewriter in a smoke-filled study. In reality, I’m tapping away at my laptop on a wobbly table with a cup of decaf twinings. And no cigarette smoke. Although I do have an oil diffuser on. Also note that my lockdown ‘tash (see image on first blog post) is now a distant memory (much to everyone’s rejoicing).
If you’re going to expect anything from this film, expect fun. There are cartoon sequences, tableaux vivants, great music, hilarious dialogue and the most inconsistent application of black and white I’ve ever seen. I love it.
