Reviewed by Hannah Spencer.
Director: Wes Anderson. 2021, Searchlight Pictures, 108 mins.
Welcome to peak Wes Anderson. Instantly recognisable for his super stylised films, The French Dispatch is Wes Anderson’s 10th feature film and overflows with the director’s signature elements to a level almost bordering on self-indulgent.
An anthology with four distinct stories, the movie steps inside the pages of the fictional French Dispatch, an outpost of a 20th-Century Kansas magazine stationed in the French town of Ennui-sur-Blasé.
Be ready to pay close attention as you race through the articles from the French Dispatch’s final edition.
The usual ensemble cast brings to life the tales of an imprisoned artist and his prison guard muse; a 1968 student revolution; and the account of a police commissioner, his chef and their race to save a kidnapped child.
A whirlwind of dialogue, intricate sets and detailed references, multiple viewings may be required to catch everything.
Black and white sequences pay homage to the classic cinema that influenced the film and animations take the style of Tintin comics.
The French Dispatch is a love letter to The New Yorker and journalists.
A list of the writers and editors who inspired Wes Anderson is shown in the closing credits.
The characters of each journalist were crafted from the names in this list.
Perhaps most impressive is Tilda Swinton (We Need To Talk About Kevin) inspired by the art critic Rosamond Bernier.
Presenting a lecture on the jailhouse artist (Benicio Del: The Usual Suspects) and his contributions to modern art, Swinton is resplendent in a tangerine kaftan and buck teeth dropping hints of her glamorous and quite possibly scandalous former life.
Wes Anderson veterans including Bill Murray (The Life Aquatic), Jason Schwartzman (cowriter, Rushmore) , Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) and Owen Wilson (The Royal Tenenbaum) are joined by a host of other French and American actors including Léa Seydoux (Blue Is The Warmest Colour), Timothée Chalamet (Dune), and Elizabeth Moss (The Invisible Man).
Such a talented and long list of actors in one movie is a treat in itself.
The French Dispatch asks audiences to work harder than is necessary for Wes Anderson’s previous rollicking adventures like Moonrise Kingdom and The Grand Budapest Hotel.
However, the much loved symmetrical shots, architectural cross sections, eccentric characters and incredible set design are all there in abundance.
This is perhaps the film that Wes Anderson has always wanted to make.
3.5 stars out of 5
