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"I think certain criticisms that I've heard about myself repeatedly start to linger," Fantastic Mr. Fox director Wes Anderson has told L.A.Weekly's Joe Donnelly. "The things that I think about are whether or not I'm telling the same kind of family stories and whether these movies are so meticulously art-directed or organized that people can't get into the story.
Fantastic Mr.Fox display in window of Manhattan's Bergdorf Goodman.
"The hardest things are just the movies you spend years on. Not everybody's occupation in their life is [about] this moment where it's kind of yes or no, where there's a kind of deciding moment for the three years you just spent. And when the movie comes out, it can go badly.
"I feel like with Darjeeling Limited, I got a lot of people saying I was repeating certain things. But for me, I was doing a movie in India about these three brothers and those things are different. I mean, it's in India. It's a completely different movie.
"In the end, I just do whatever I do, probably," he says.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on November 22, 2009 at 9:08 AM
comment #1
K. Bowen
says ...
I think people are moving out of the build-him-up-to-tear-him-down phase with Anderson and starting to appreciate how good his films have been.
I watched Steve Zissou at a midnight screening a few weeks ago. Much better than the first time. And I liked it the first time.
Posted by K. Bowen
at November 22, 2009 9:35 AM
comment #2
PastePotPete
says ...
For my sake, I agree with you Bowen. Zissou I found somewhat disappointing in the theater, and I was so-so on Darjeeling Ltd as well. But over time and repeated cable viewings I've come to appreciate them a lot more, especially Darjeeling. I think it's probably his best movie, now, though I still enjoy The Royal Tenenbaums most.
At this point I've turned a corner on his work, where I enjoy it primarily because even if he does have some heavily recurrent themes and the production design is dense, he's the only one making these kinds of movies.
Posted by PastePotPete
at November 22, 2009 11:12 AM
comment #3
Yer
says ...
Wes sounds about as articulate as a tree stump.
Posted by Yer
at November 22, 2009 12:26 PM
comment #4
John Galt
says ...
i find with the voluminous amount of subtle humor and expressive production design, one needs multiple viewings of wes' films to let them truly soak in. i like them all the more i see them. name another director you can say that about.
Posted by John Galt
at November 22, 2009 1:20 PM
comment #5
ErrantElan
says ...
The problem with Wes Anderson (well, my problem with Anderson) is not that he "repeats" himself too much - he may do so, he may not, but I think most artists tend to do that at some point - after all, what is an auteuristic theme if not something that's repeated?
The problem is that the wonderfully eccentric, original, and most importantly, slightly humanistic young filmmaker from Texas who made the great "Rushmore" seems to be completely lost. I don't consider that progress. I think Owen's contribution may have helped to ground things, make them a bit more real, more human (Rushmore has all the elements of prettified, unique Andersen fantasia, but dammit, the film just seems so much more grounded and human than the rest of his films).
In Rushmore, Bill Murray plays a working-class-ish schlub made good and rich, but who still delivers wonderful speeches like the "find the rich boys, and take them down" spiel. now, Wes makes movies that have displays in Bergdorf Goodman windows. I don't think I can explain it any better than that.
Posted by ErrantElan
at November 23, 2009 11:56 AM
comment #6
jmevans
says ...
Wes' best scripts are the ones he has co-written with Owen Wilson (Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, Tenebaums). As much as I love certain elements of Zissou, the truth is the story itself is very weak compared to his first three films.
I found Darjeeling to be his worst film to date because I didn't care what happened to those three brothers in the end. Characters of wealth in the past (Tenebaums) at least had a heartbeat. With Darjeeling, I was watching three self absorbed brats, and it brought everything down (despite how beautiful India looked).
Wes based Darjeeling on an excursion he had to India with Jason Schwartzman and Roman Coppola. We are talking about three wealthy people doing whatever they want on a train in India. In the end, that didn't translate to movie magic as it has in the past for Wes.
I'm excited for Fantastic Mr. Fox simply because stop motion is cool and I trust Wes has a winner on his hands here. I just hope he will re-team with Owen soon and create another classic. Until then, I worry his best days are behind him. We shall see.
Posted by jmevans
at November 23, 2009 12:48 PM
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