'The French Dispatch' review — Anderson and his players create a loving ode to journalism
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| The French Dispatch offices. Photo Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures |
“Just try to make it sound like you wrote it that way on purpose.”
This film was featured in my Best Films of 2021 list.
The editor is dead. Arthur Howitzer Jr. (Bill Murray) had been running the semi-successful titular newspaper for many years. An American publication based in the fictional town of Ennui, France, the French Dispatch was dedicated to the “subjects of world politics, the arts, high and low, and diverse stories of human interest.” However, as requested by Howitzer’s last will and testament, the newspaper will cease production permanently. Motivated by the ancient “No Crying” sign above his office, the staff put together one last memorial issue featuring an obituary to their late editor, an introduction to Ennui, and three of the newspaper’s finest articles from across the years.
The French Dispatch, or, to be technical, The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun, is the tenth film by acclaimed American filmmaker Wes Anderson. For those familiar with his previous films, the name evokes images of pastel colours, unique framing, and strange characters. Anderson is known for his iconic unique visual flair, symmetrical shots, and witty, stilted dialogue. His highly-specific filmic idiosyncrasies redefine the term “auteur” to a new extreme. Anderson’s work is inseparable from the man himself. The French Dispatch sees Anderson at his most Anderson yet. The filmmaker further exaggerates the distinctive production and stylistic elements from his previous work and takes them to a new height.
The film is told through an anthology of vignettes set in mid-20th century Ennui-sur-Blasé, literally “Boredom-On-Blasé” in English. It begins with “The Cycling Reporter,” a short introduction to the city, which outlines Ennui’s many residents, local geography, and pieces of important history. It’s followed by “The Concrete Masterpiece,” the first and my favourite of the three key segments. The segment follows an incarcerated murder-turned-artist (Benicio del Toro), prison guard, lover, and model (Léa Seydoux), and the man who makes millions off of the artist’s work (Andrian Brody). The second piece is “Revisions to a Manifesto” which is about a student-led protest in the 1960s. The film closes with “The Private Dining Room of the Police Commissioner,” a piece about kidnapping, poisoned radishes, and fine dining.
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| Elisabeth Moss, Owen Wilson, Tilda Swinton, Fisher Stevens and Griffin Dunne in The French Dispatch. Photo Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. |
Two of Anderson’s collaborators return for this film and present some of their best work yet. Two-time Academy Award-nominee and one-time winner Adam Stockhausen, who has worked on Anderson’s four previous films, is the film’s production designer. His reputation is not undeserved as the work of him and his team are some of the finest examples of design in the year. The cinematography Robert Yeoman, who has shot all eight of Anderson’s live-action films, is absolutely stunning. The film jumps from black-and-white and colour and transitions between intimate 4:3 frames, to spilt screen, to 2.39:1 wide shots. There are so many brilliant moments of blocking and camera movement like the chase sequence shot from the perspective of a wheelchair in “The Concrete Masterpiece” and the long shots of city life in “The Cycling Reporter.” The pyrotechnics of “The Private Dining Room of the Police Commissioner” and the phenomenal sets of “Revisions to a Manifesto.”
In a year full of many notable, high-profile ensemble casts — Dune, The Suicide Squad, and Zack Snyder’s Justice League come to mind — the cast of The French Dispatch is by far the most overwhelming. Anderson calls in a long list of favours and assembles a pantheon of his most famous collaborators and some new faces to fill in the absurd amount of characters through the film. Bill Murray, who has appeared in all of Anderson’s films save one, plays the central Mr. Howitzer. Murray is wonderful as the newspaper’s sporadic editor. Howitzer’s star writing team is played by the four-powerhouses in Owen Wilson, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand, and Jeffrey Wright. Swinton, McDormand, and Wilson are well established within Anderson’s regular troupe of players, but it is Wright, in his first collaboration with Anderson, who proves to be the film’s highlight. He provides a genuine sincerity and gravitas to his performance often sorely missing from the ironic, dry performances that Anderson brings out of his actors.
The cast continues on endlessly with brilliant supporting performances by Benicio del Toro, Léa Seydoux, Adrien Brody, Timothée Chalamet, Tony Revolori, and Elisabeth Moss, and almost cameo appearances by the likes of Edward Norton, Jason Schwartzman, Willem Dafoe, Saoirse Ronan, and Christoph Waltz.
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| Lyna Khoudri, Frances McDormand and Timothée Chalamet in The French Dispatch. Photo Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. |
And yet, The French Dispatch never feels crowded by its many faces. It’s a testament to its performances and its writing. Because of the nature of the film’s story and its reliance on collective storytelling, the film is hesitant to give one performer the starring role. The credits of the film are divided up into the various segments of the film, like the cast list you will see at the end of my review. The performances all exemplify this. While Murray may be the central piece of the film, he doesn’t carry himself like the lead. The performances and characters are exact, specific, and hilariously memorable across the board. Like the performances, the stories are complementary to each other, never overstay their welcome, and stand totally distinct from the rest thanks to their roots in Anderson’s guiding themes.
The French Dispatch ends with a long list of dedication to the various reporters, writers, and editors which inspired the events and characters depicted within the story. Influenced primarily by magazines like the New Yorker, the film is Anderson’s love letter to writing and journalism. With a loveable collection of strange, oddball characters, The French Dispatch is a quirky delight from start to finish. The film is ambitious without ever feeling inaccessible. It’s nostalgic, rewarding, and touching. Long-time fans of Anderson’s work and those new to him will be entertained. It’s a movie as chaotic and freewheeling as the newspaper itself. I think Howitzer would be proud.
Score: 5
The French Dispatch is now playing in theatres.
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