I recently re-watched all of Wes Anderson's films in preparation for his new one, Moonrise Kingdom. Naturally after watching his movies I desired to understand them more and read what others had to say about them. Going through reviews and message boards I was a little disappointed. I had seen all of Anderson's films already, and so his unique idiosyncratic style was something I was quite used to, on this second viewing I wanted to see if there was much substance behind the style. Unfortunately, I found that there was little to no discussion about the substance, subtext, and themes of Anderson, all discussion surrounding him are usually about his visual style (ironic, considering that most mainstream film discussion avoids style, but with Anderson's very obvious-than-normal style this is not surprising). Granted, there are film critics who have revolved their film reviews on his themes on occasion, but film reviews are not the same as film discussion. So this is why this post exists. I wanted to contribute to the discussion by writing almost completely about the themes in the films of Wes Anderson. As you'll see, in addition to having a distinct visual style, Anderson also has very distinct themes present in all his films.
Bottle Rocket (1996): Late in Anderson's first feature film, Owen Wilson's character, Dignam, makes a risky decision that may end up with him getting caught by the police. When his decision is questioned by his friends, Dignam replies with "It's okay, I'm innocent." In the context of the scene, this makes little sense because he's really not innocent of the crime, but in essence, he is right. He is an innocent young man, with no ill will in his heart at all. His actions may look bad, but really he's a good kid just looking for some adventure.
When Dignam goes out to steal stuff he's not doing it specifically because he is poor, he does it for that feeling he gets, that feeling that he is a strong adult man who has achieved something. Dignam's partner, Anthony, has his own thrill deficiency. For Anthony it is the romance with the Latino maid in the motel that makes him feel like a strong adult man on the verge of achievement. While they don't steal because they are in financial need, there is still a sense of class envy in this film that runs through many of Anderson's films. They are not envy because they desire monetary wealth, in Bottle Rocket it is the characteristic of achievement and perceived happiness that makes our two main character envious of those in a higher class.
Rushmore (1998): While Bottle Rocket would set up the themes that Anderson would play with for the rest of his career, Rushmore takes care of the unforgettable sad quirky characters that Anderson would never leave behind. This is a movie about a young ambitious kid who tries to be so much more than he really is. There was a bit of class envy in Bottle Rocket, but out of all of Anderson's films, it is in Rushmore that it is the most pronounced. Max Fischer is a seemingly sophisticated young man who has found the one thing he can succeed at, and that is to be a student at the private upper class Rushmore Academy.
While he succeeds at being a popular student at Rushmore academy, he is not so successful at his next endeavor, which is to get romantically involved with a teacher. Realistically it seems almost arrogant of him to even think he can get this teacher, but Anderson makes us aware of Fischer's life beyond Rushmore, and that buys him a lot of audience sympathy. We see how he lies to people about his dad being a neurosurgeon, even though he is a barber. It is also implied that Fischer's mother died not long ago. And so there is a sense of melancholy flowing through Fischer's actions. We root for him to climb up the social ladder and achieve his dreams because we get the sense that this kid honestly has nothing else. Like in Bottle Rocket, it is a sadness that has filled the past of the main characters that makes them ambitious for a greater sense of achievement.
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001): While Bottle Rocket and Rushmore featured main characters who were low on the socioeconomic spectrum attempting to get higher up by achieving some sense of glory, The Royal Tenenbaums features a group of characters who once had all the glory a person can get, but are now struggling in their post-glory lives. This is maybe Anderson's most ambitious movie, the best example of this being that every single member of the family could have had their own individual movie about a struggle to deal with the feeling you get after you've done something great and everyone has already forgotten about it.
While the movie does take on achievement and glory, it also emphasizes a theme that Anderson played around with a little in Bottle Rocket, and that is family relationships. There have been many comedies about dysfunctional families, but this one is so detailed and well put-together that it is the ultimate dysfunctional family story. What also sets this film apart is the sometimes dark nature of it. Anderson makes comedies set in odd fantastical worlds sometimes, but he is not afraid to bring reality right back into it, as evidenced in this film in the brilliant "Needle in the Hay" attempted suicide sequence. Those dark moments are necessary for us to truly believe that this family is dysfunctional, and like in Rushmore, we get that a sense of melancholy permeates the world of these characters. That sadness makes it all the more affecting when at the end the family members choose their mutual love over functionality.
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004): The attempt to recapture long gone glory is something very evident in The Royal Tenenbaums, specifically with Gene Hackman's character, but if we look back farther, it was also very much at play in Bill Murray's character in Rushmore. This character-type is even more so enhanced in the lead character Bill Murray plays in Anderson's most expensive film yet, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Zissou is a deep-sea explorer and documentary filmmaker who is long past his prime, and the melancholy he feels is due to his descent down the social ladder. The lead characters in The Royal Tenenbaums and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou feel like they could be grown up versions of Dignam and Max Fischer. Both Dignam and Max yearn for achievement, but as Steve Zissou and Royal Tenenbaum show, it's always temporary, and that desire for achievement will always persist.
Again like The Royal Tenenbaums, this film also makes the case that family is what is important, specifically fatherhood. Steve Zissou finds that he is (probably) the father of Owen Wilson's character, and this sense of renewed responsibility and purpose serves a whole new sense of importance in Zissou's life. Just as Royal Tenenbaum does, Zissou realizes that reclaiming a sense of family can achieve a greater sense of achievement than reclaiming past glory (though I must admit, The Life Aquatic is not as good at highlighting this aspect as The Royal Tenenbaums is. It would be impossible to get this sense having only seen The Life Aquatic and not the rest of Anderson's filmography).
The Darjeeling Limited (2007): The difficulties of sustaining healthy family relationships is once again explored in this India-set film. Three brothers go on a spiritual and bonding journey through India, and on this journey we get to hear (and see in one flashback) about the troubles that have occurred with their family in their past, most importantly the recent death of their father. Like in The Royal Tenenbaums we have a dysfunctional family trying to get over the past and the troubles that occupied those years. Clearly the brothers do not have the best relationship, that's why they are on this trip. Ultimately the film is about letting go of baggage that is symbolized with, guess what, actual baggage that the three carry along with them everywhere until they leave it all behind towards the end. The concept of holding on to yesterday, either because they were better times or they were just more comfortable, is a common theme in Anderson's work as we saw in The Royal Tenenbaums and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.
Also in The Darjeeling Limited we have the father-son relationship dynamic that was most evident in The Life Aquatic, but in this one the father is dead. We only see the sons as they emotionally struggle with the absence of a father in their life and fail to reconcile their own differences, later when they see an Indian father lose his son they see the father-son dynamic in a whole new light that helps them bond together. Once again we have a dysfunctional family, partly dysfunctional because of where the father is, who end up coming together by accepting their dysfunction (I admit this is not a groundbreaking concept in cinema, but I never said the substance in his films was as groundbreaking as his style).
The Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009): In Anderson's first animated film we continue to see the theme of dysfunctional families led by a fathers trying to re-live their glory days. Mr. Fox used to lead an exciting life, and he yearns for that sense of -- you should know this by now -- achievement. This film being more of an adventure film, Mr. Fox actually goes and tries to get that feeling back. But Mr. Fox makes mistakes and realizations about how selfish he is being. One of his transgressions is ignoring his troubled son, again Anderson is dealing with the father-son dynamic.
These father-son issues help Mr. Fox realize his selfish ways and how working together as a family is what is most important. One of the major differences in this film with Anderson's other dysfunctional family films, is that in this film the family is dysfunctional primarily due to one person, and that is the father. In The Royal Tenenbaums, the father was a major cause, but every person in that family had issues they refused to fix that contributed to the dysfunction of the family. Mr. Fox is having an identity crisis and, like Max Fischer from Rushmore, he wants to address it and does not think about how his pursuit will affect the people around him.
Conclusion
In addition to establishing that there is substance in Anderson's film, I think it is also now quite obvious now that in addition to having a very idiosyncratic style that does not change much in between films, the substance in Anderson's film is also one that is similar all throughout his filmography. The theme of achievement and glory is something that appears in literally all of his films. As does melancholy, despite the fact that his films can be described as comedies. I believe it was Scott Tobias of The AV Club who described Anderson's films as "melan-comedies," a term that I think might be the perfect one to describe Anderson's work.
There is certainly a criticism of Anderson that seems to be reinforced by this post, and that is that he does seem to make, if not the same, then very similar movies over and over again. This is a criticism that I do and do not agree with. I don't agree with it because I do think that the premise and ambition of his films do change as well as the small variations in style, and how you say something is just as important, if not more important than what you're saying. But again, there are many who see his style and characters as the same exact thing in every movie, and I can definitely understand that because it is fairly true. But ultimately I appreciate him because he is an incredibly consistent filmmaker who is the only one doing what he's doing. Anderson is the only one telling these stories of dysfunctional families filled with people aspiring to be much more than they are in such vivid and enjoyable style.
Also, for no reason, here is a ranking of my favorite Wes Anderson films, even though they are all really good and the difference in quality is actually quite little:
1. Rushmore
2. The Royal Tenenbaums
3. The Darjeeling Limited
4. Bottle Rocket
5. The Fantastic Mr. Fox
6. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
You can probably expect some words on Moonrise Kingdom not too far down the road.
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