Review 618: The French Dispatch

  

The French Dispatch is amazing; delightfully quirky, visually stunning comedy drama anthology film, one of Wes Anderson’s best films and a wonderful

Set in the fictional French city of Enui-sur-Blase, the expat editorial staff of The Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (Elizabeth Moss, Jason Schwartzman, Tilda Swinton among others) compile stories of European intrigue for their readers, led by their dedicated, eccentric editor Arthur Howitzer Jr. (Bill Murray). One is a tale of melevolent bearded convict, Moses Rosenthaler (Benicio del Toro) whose surprising talent for portraiture captures the wandering eye of the art community. Another is a portrait of student revolutionary, Zeffirelli (Timothee Chalamet) and journalist, Lucinda Krementz (Frances McDormand) whose assigned to him; the third, a ganger odyssey involving a mishap-filled kidnapping performed by a low-level crook known only as "The Chauffeur" (Edward Norton).

Anderson has described the film as a "Love letter to journalism" with its legendary roster of writers, instance on standards being up to par 

Given that the film is an anthology film, we follow different sets of characters and members of the films massive ensemble, giving us different perspectives into the the films world. Anderson constructs the film like a series of little vinettes   

Wes Anderson's direction is brilliant, constructing scenes in simple but effective  like a low angle tracking shot of Like all of Anderson’s films, The French Dispatch looks fabulous, the cinematography is gorgeous and captures the beauty and decorative splendour of France in the mid 70s, the score by Alexandre Desplat is magnificent, the production design is fantastic, the costumes are colourful  

Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Elizabeth Moss, Jason Schwartzman, Tilda Swinton, Benicio del Toro, Adrien Brody, Léa Seydoux, Bob Balaban, Frances McDormand, Timothee Chalamet, Lyna Khoudri, Cécile de France, Christoph Waltz, Jeffrey Wright, Mathieu Amalric, Stephen Park, Liev Schreiber, Edward Norton, Willem Dafoe, Saoirse Ronan, Rupert Friend, Anjelica Huston, Henry Winkler, the list goes on. 

Overall, The French Dispatch is a wonderful film filled with lots of quirky characters

5/5.

The Anonymous Critic.