The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (Wes Anderson, 2021)

Discussions of specific films and franchises.
Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (Wes Anderson, 2021)

#201 Post by therewillbeblus » Tue Jul 28, 2020 2:35 pm

I'd also be down if they did hold them and only international movies and Mike Mills take home the gold.


User avatar
Ribs
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 1:14 pm

Re: The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (Wes Anderson, 2021)

#203 Post by Ribs » Thu May 27, 2021 10:44 am

I mean, not releasing wide on that date. Just releasing.

User avatar
soundchaser
Leave Her to Beaver
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2016 12:32 am

Re: The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (Wes Anderson, 2021)

#204 Post by soundchaser » Mon Jul 12, 2021 6:55 pm

Notices coming in from Cannes seem mostly positive, with a few reservations. Tim Grierson at ScreenDaily says it "doesn’t have much of the sneaky sentimental undercurrent that makes Anderson’s films more than just intellectual exercises." That's a recurring theme in the few reviews I've read so far.

User avatar
therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (Wes Anderson, 2021)

#205 Post by therewillbeblus » Mon Jul 12, 2021 6:59 pm

That's what the trailer and narrative design made it seem like, but I've felt Anderson moving away from that emotional undercurrent and more towards his playful ideas since Moonrise Kingdom, even though the sentiment is certainly present in his last two features

User avatar
therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (Wes Anderson, 2021)

#206 Post by therewillbeblus » Tue Jul 13, 2021 1:19 am

Everyone’s favorite critic David Ehrlich gave this a middling review on LB, notable since I believe he’s liked or loved every other WA film so far

User avatar
Finch
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
Location: Edinburgh, UK

Re: The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (Wes Anderson, 2021)

#207 Post by Finch » Tue Jul 13, 2021 10:07 am

Add Slant Magazine's Pat Brown to the pile of Good But Not Great reviews.

User avatar
DarkImbecile
Ask me about my visible cat breasts
Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 6:24 pm
Location: Albuquerque, NM

Re: The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (Wes Anderson, 2021)

#208 Post by DarkImbecile » Sat Sep 04, 2021 10:42 am

Finch wrote:
Tue Jul 13, 2021 10:07 am
…the pile of Good But Not Great reviews…
Unfortunately, I’ll have to add my own meager contribution to that pile: this is maybe the most technically audacious and intricately written of Anderson’s films, but the anthology structure and the (totally appropriate) reliance on the style of observational journalism keeps the audience at a remove from the characters, both those the writers are covering and the writers themselves. There are scattered moments of emotional resonance — particularly in the final sequence built around Jeffrey Wright’s James Baldwin-esque food and culture writer — but for the most part the film’s pleasures lie in a more intellectual appreciation of a) the contortions and labyrinthine tangents of the script, b) the somehow surprisingly intricate (even for Anderson!) production design, and c) the deft stylistic transitions between color and black and white or claymation and traditional animation. Often funny but only rarely touching in the way Anderson’s best can be, very much worth appreciating over multiple viewings but probably not destined to be ultimately placed in the top tier of his work.

User avatar
Yakushima
Joined: Mon Dec 01, 2008 1:42 am
Location: US

Re: The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (Wes Anderson, 2021)

#209 Post by Yakushima » Sat Sep 04, 2021 11:16 am

DarkImbecile thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on The French Dispatch and other films in Festival Circuit thread, it is greatly appreciated! I am surprised and saddened that the overall impression about The French Dispatch is that it is a lesser Wes Anderson film. Especially surprised to hear about the lack of emotional resonance, after such an impactful trailer. Still, this is my most anticipated film (ever since it was announced), and I am greatly looking forward to watching it on a big screen.

User avatar
DarkImbecile
Ask me about my visible cat breasts
Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 6:24 pm
Location: Albuquerque, NM

Re: The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (Wes Anderson, 2021)

#210 Post by DarkImbecile » Sat Sep 04, 2021 2:41 pm

There’s definitely a wealth of Andersonian treasures, and I think it’s absolutely rewarding on a big screen, so I doubt you’ll be disappointed exactly, but based on the word of mouth here at the festival, it looks like I may even be skewed toward the more favorable end of the spectrum of responses.


User avatar
therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (Wes Anderson, 2021)

#212 Post by therewillbeblus » Wed Oct 20, 2021 11:01 pm

I'm very grateful to have read from and spoken to folks who had already seen this film and minimized expectations around its poignancy or emotional heft prior to my viewing, because while those observations are certainly apt, I was surprised by how much sentiment I picked up, and moreover, how the three stories (and prologue and epilogue) were thematically woven together and directly tied into Anderson's larger body of work. Others have singled out Wright's contribution to the third story as containing the most affecting moments, but all three breathed their own distinctive sighs of loneliness, meditated on the fleeting nature of one's relationship with their social environment, time, and youthfulness, and affirmed the existential value of art (be it painting, writing, cooking, or general storytelling), whether sharing personal experience with others collectively or indirectly in isolation. The connective tissue of emotional resonance hit me just as hard when Chalamet wonders if after a thousand kisses this woman he loves with will still remember the taste of him, as it did when Wright comments on the subjective worth of food's stability in an unpredictable world, or the chef's rumination on the rare miracle of discovery. The throughline of these stories to one another, and to Anderson's earlier films, is not only ennui (amusingly used as a marker of place here), but the idea of using foreign spaces for contemplating the feeling of displacement that one feels between the self and their milieu.

I didn't realize, until this was cemented luridly in the final act, how Anderson has always been most interested in the disturbance one experiences when feeling disconnected from others and their surroundings, as well as the resilience we find in gratitude for being present for impermanent gifts of connection, a sensation of 'home', belongingness and genuine affection. I've written before about his use of physical space as a metaphor for internal psychological maladies of prescribed involuntary seclusion, limitations to actualize desires over our lives plaguing characters as they move deeper into the abysses of cities, oceans, and across the world. Though this idea of a home's makeshift and transient nature- as well as how we hold on to attributes that we can control in giving us that sense of attachment beyond ourselves- has been omnipresent, from loosely defined family systems, to Mr. Fox's homestead, a hotel's impressionistic merits, a constructed beach paradise, and so on and so forth. Characters may transfer deeper meaning previously ascribed to the institution of Rushmore Academy onto found family, or apply appreciated skills from a repellent scout troop into a harmonic union that may or may not last but is our saving grace in the here and now, or attempt to find a tangible beast that cannot answer our question of 'why' and only realize then that the empathy from those around us answers our preoccupations with our significance. The elusiveness matters, and mortality absolutely elicits a valid melancholia for us all around the finality we arrive at alone, but the meaning we subscribe to our feelings, thoughts, and memories, and our ability to create art or shared experiences with others -from direct means of intimate participation in vulnerable situations to indirect avenues arriving to individual participants we'll never meet- are treasures to celebrate.

All that analysis aside, it's undoubtedly the most shallow work Anderson has done in this respect, with opportunities for philosophical musing and emotional invitations vanishing almost as quickly as they arrive- but I think that's very much the point. These shifts often occur with the introduction of the artifice, the author of the piece's dictation deflating the power we've just bridged with the characters, though a case could be made for the artist's (or reporter, but they're artists after all in Anderson's view; read: the fatalistic impossibility at achieving "journalistic integrity") perspective being filtered through onto the pages/screen as an equal focus of affinity for the filmmaker. It's a self-reflexive exercise, demonstrating restraint and self-awareness on Anderson's part, even if it's ultimately not as involving as a result of its format and aloof positioning from its principals for audience surrogates or projections by design. As far as the other staples in an intricate narrative, exhaustingly extravagant mise en scene (the creative choices around black-and-white to color photography are particularly inspired), and humor, well- it's hard to be disappointed. I like or love every Wes Anderson film I've ever seen, and if this is the bottom of the barrel, I'll keep showing up.

User avatar
Brian C
I hate to be That Pedantic Guy but...
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2009 11:58 am
Location: Chicago, IL

Re: The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (Wes Anderson, 2021)

#213 Post by Brian C » Sat Nov 06, 2021 1:00 am

This movie is simultaneously amazing in every single frame and yet maybe feels like the least inspired Anderson film to date. The trailer barely hints at how extravagantly designed this is, but also it's the first time that I've felt like Anderson was repeating himself. So many of the gags seemed familiar to me, if not in terms of their actual substance, then in the rhythms and the punctuation. I felt at times just a tad impatient; it charms but doesn't surprise. Having just gotten home from the theater, I find myself wondering how I'll feel about it tomorrow.

On the other hand, I'm surprised to read complaints about the lack of emotional undercurrent, because this is something I thought Anderson laid on much thicker than usual. The sense of melancholy is almost overpowering, nearly funereal. The sheer sense of loneliness in being an artist - or possibly even a thinker - saturates the film. The world of this film is filled with loss: the loss of time, the loss of love, the loss of people. And unlike with the rest of Anderson's work, the sadness isn't twinned with a bittersweet upside or catharsis. Rather, the inhabitants of this world have no choice but to soldier through on the strength of their own resolve, stealing what brief moments of respite or inspiration they can find for the fleeting moments that they're able to hold on to them. Even the character who hangs around the office for the expressed sole purpose of being cheerful barely cracks a smile.

All that said, I really loved some of the performances. The nature of the film being what it is, no one has a very large role, but Wright, Murray, McDormand, Chalamet, Lyna Khoudri, and in an extremely small role, Saoirse Ronan - all were very affecting to me (I would guess that in minutes-and-seconds terms, Wright's role is the biggest in the film, but hard to say). It's always been easy for me to see how Anderson is able to recruit such large casts, with big names even in very small roles; his actors always have so much room to inhabit their characters, which I think is often overshadowed by Anderson's (obviously deserved) reputation for exacting detail. I don't know how necessary it is to cast every role with a recognizable face, but if I were an actor, no doubt I'd jump at the chance to do whatever was offered to me. So I guess why not.

I guess my bottom line is the same as TWBB's - "if this is the bottom of the barrel, I'll keep showing up." And it's entirely possible that on repeated viewings, I'll come to love it after being freed from the burden of expectation. It's happened before! But as of now, I'll admit that I'm slightly less enthusiastic for his next film than I was for this one, lest this one be an omen that Anderson's most thrilling work is in the past.

User avatar
Red Screamer
Joined: Tue Jul 16, 2013 12:34 pm
Location: Tativille, IA

Re: The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (Wes Anderson, 2021)

#214 Post by Red Screamer » Mon Nov 08, 2021 12:16 am

I guess we can chalk it up to Anderson fatigue that both this and Isle of Dogs have gone so underrated. Yes, most of his stylistic tics are repeated here in abundance, but the "more of the same" shrug this has been met with in most corners misses the broader shift in his approach: This is Anderon's most language-focused film and the furthest he's strayed from conventional dramatic filmmaking. For the first time the beauty of his artifice never welcomes or envelops, even when its overwhelms, but rather it pushes us away, denying identification. The film has actors, not characters, and its style is cooly analytical as Anderson cycles through parody, debate, and poetry to break each scene down into ideas and designs, designs and ideas. Call it Brechtian if you must. Complaints that the film is irrelevant nostalgia just show that people aren't paying attention. This is his most topical film, maybe even too topical. The first two of its three main sections tackle the buzzy topics of criminal artists, genius-muse relationships, and youth activism head on. Skepticism towards Anderson as a thinker rather than an entertainer and the head-rattling fast pace all but guarantee that these depictions will get oversimplified, but they're thoughtful and honestly inconclusive. As always in Anderson's work, the film has throughlines of loneliness, economic class, and pangs of "I guess I just wasn't made for these times". But ultimately the different segments of The French Dispatch form an essay on art as business in all its forms. If it wasn't so poppy and impossibly fast-paced, it'd be obvious that The French Dispatch has more in common with Tout va bien than with Rushmore.

As for complaints, I agree with Brian C that the jokes are more hit-or-miss than usual though the pathos is surprisingly moving despite the film's resistance to conventional characters and drama; I still find Anderson's chase/action scenes a chore; and the first "feature" with Del Toro felt more complete to me than the others. But the critical conversation around this has been embarassingly shallow.

By the way, does anyone else think
SpoilerShow
it sounds like Jeffrey Wright is doing an Orson Welles impression?
Last edited by Red Screamer on Tue Nov 23, 2021 4:16 am, edited 1 time in total.


User avatar
aox
Joined: Fri Jun 20, 2008 12:02 pm
Location: nYc

Re: The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (Wes Anderson, 2021)

#216 Post by aox » Mon Nov 08, 2021 4:00 pm

This worked incredibly well for me. This might be Top 5 WA for me but that depends on the rewatches. My initial reaction to this is I preferred it over The Grand Budapest Hotel, which I love as well. This movie is far more kinetic and every scene is visually a delight. Loved the homages to Tati.

Incidentally, this was also my first visit to the cinema since the Pandemic, so that alone will forever ingratiate this film for me.

User avatar
Kat
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2016 8:53 am

Re: The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (Wes Anderson, 2021)

#217 Post by Kat » Wed Nov 24, 2021 5:14 pm

I saw it three weeks ago and really loved it.

Coincidentally I'd been at a class on Lacan earlier that week and it just felt really relevant - it seemed to explore the Boromean knot - imagination, symbolisation and reality again and again -- its made me wonder about this in his earlier work more than ever - and of course wholly appropriate for this film. the timing here seemed deliberately a bit off at times which for me drew attention to the film and the effect of a sort of vertigo between accepting the narrative and reality, i liked that a lot and like I say it does make me wonder about this in his other films. it wasn't as much cakey sweetness in this, for me. i also liked the layers of demystification of art/culture in a foreign land whilst simultaneously mystifying again in the narratives for consumption of others - and that is why i like the way he keeps giving us chances to be shocked and aware of the narrative and reality. I liked that the timing of some of it seemed (to me) to sort of go against rhythm at times, not just deliver what i expected, one way to give a little shock (it seemed to play with this and i wonder if it grew in doing it as the film went on, but that may have been my doziness waking up slowly.)

I've only read this page of the thread -- few must have seen it earlier than this page. what were people talking about for 8 pages? a chat in the queue waiting?

I loved the art in the first story and later found this interview

https://www.dazeddigital.com/art-photog ... h-dispatch

my second visit to a cinema post pandemic, i'll go to see if the first film i saw this summer is known in these pages.

User avatar
therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (Wes Anderson, 2021)

#218 Post by therewillbeblus » Wed Nov 24, 2021 5:38 pm

Kat wrote:
Wed Nov 24, 2021 5:14 pm
I've only read this page of the thread -- few must have seen it earlier than this page. what were people talking about for 8 pages? a chat in the queue waiting?
Well, the film was delayed for about 18 months, and already anticipated before that, so it's not unheard of for people to post news about casting, promotional materials, and updates on screenings/release info, and reviews/general impressions, as they come out for movies this hyped (Licorice Pizza is a good recent example, but if I recall correctly, The Tree of Life and The Master threads were even more bloated pre-release)

User avatar
Kat
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2016 8:53 am

Re: The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (Wes Anderson, 2021)

#219 Post by Kat » Wed Nov 24, 2021 6:45 pm

i was only being light hearted.

this version of my pc also seems to put more posts on pages than in the past

my heart falls a bit (it shouldn't) when eager to get discussing I see there are pages of thoughts and opinions already to imbibe before i dare, i mean i like all those posts, but let me mine what it means to me -- so not having been here for months i was probably reacting a bit to that, i like that there are 8 pages really but was glad i only had to read this one (for now)

User avatar
R0lf
Joined: Tue May 19, 2009 7:25 am

Re: The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (Wes Anderson, 2021)

#220 Post by R0lf » Sat Dec 11, 2021 8:59 am

This really felt like Wes Anderson making a reactionary film towards the modern world. An optimistic movie offering us up everything we need right now to solve the crushing austerity we all face: criminal artists, horny student revolutionaries, black gay food critics. When we have popular media like PARASITE or SQUID GAME which can intelligently dissect life but are completely nihilistic in offering any answers or real insight into our shared humanity it is refreshing for Anderson to socially engineer an alternative for us out of whole cloth. It’s really a great achievement and it’s a rare find in cinema (even Wes Anderson’s cinema).

Constable
Joined: Wed Apr 15, 2020 3:51 pm

Re: The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (Wes Anderson, 2021)

#221 Post by Constable » Thu Dec 30, 2021 8:27 am

therewillbeblus wrote:
Tue Jul 13, 2021 1:19 am
Everyone’s favorite critic David Ehrlich gave this a middling review on LB, notable since I believe he’s liked or loved every other WA film so far
I'm not in on the background of this, can someone explain? What's the deal with Ehrlich?

User avatar
knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (Wes Anderson, 2021)

#222 Post by knives » Thu Dec 30, 2021 10:12 am

Some people don’t like his style. Personally I’ve adored him since his Dissolve days and always look forward to his end of year videos, but he just really doesn’t work for some.

User avatar
therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (Wes Anderson, 2021)

#223 Post by therewillbeblus » Thu Dec 30, 2021 10:34 am

Right, I'm with knives- I'll admit that he can be obnoxiously crass on occasion, but there are many times where his reviews are more insightful and closer to my own thoughts on a film than any other critic, by miles

flyonthewall2983
Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2005 3:31 pm
Location: Indiana
Contact:

Re: The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (Wes Anderson, 2021)

#224 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Thu Dec 30, 2021 4:24 pm

Loved it. It’s right up there with GBH if we’re talking his post-Life Aquatic work. I say this frequently but I think he’s at his best when he raises the bar on sophistication towards characterization, in a genre that largely instead works off the sometimes-crude charm of the stars, the R-rated comedy. But with even those types of movies not bringing in the kind of attention they used to (and mostly being relegated to Netflix specifically these days), and comedies becoming more aware of the outside world somehow he injects his interpretation of the world here. It is one that in typical Andersonian fashion as of late, that is inherently in the past but there are echoes of things we see now.

User avatar
Michael Kerpan
Spelling Bee Champeen
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 1:20 pm
Location: New England
Contact:

Re: The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (Wes Anderson, 2021)

#225 Post by Michael Kerpan » Thu Dec 30, 2021 8:29 pm

Is this streaming anywhere?

Post Reply