Wes Anderson’s movies always trigger a healthy buzz in the pop culture world, and his recently released Grand Budapest Hotel is no different. Already, the film has won the Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, and if IMDB ratings are anything to go by, it’s well on its way to becoming another Anderson classic.
Anderson’s cinematic style is one of the most distinctive in Hollywood today, and we’ve recently written about two video essays that highlight some of his favorite stylistic techniques. If you’ve ever seen The Royal Tenenbaums, you’ll immediately recognize his trademark visuals: the soft, surreal palette, the tightly framed centered shots, and the steady camerawork are among his favorite tools.
Above, we bring you yet another visual essay on Anderson’s filmmaking, courtesy of the Criterion Collection. This time, however, the focus is Anderson’s sole animated feature, Fantastic Mr. Fox. The clip, entitled The Fox & Mr. Anderson, is a split-screen short, which matches Mr. Fox to Anderson’s other films, shot for perfect shot. Here we see the Mr. Fox protagonists marching in step with the brothers of The Darjeeling Limited, and Steve Zissou, of The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou fame, mirroring the scowl of Mr. Fox himself; here is Rat, Fox’s mortal enemy, lying wounded, opposite Rushmore’s injured Max Fischer. While brief, the collection is a beautiful anthology of Anderson’s work and some of the visuals that make encore performances.
via Biblioklept
Ilia Blinderman is a Montreal-based culture and science writer. Follow him at @iliablinderman, or read more of his writing at the Huffington Post.
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Watch 7 New Video Essays on Wes Anderson’s Films: Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums & More
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Wes Anderson’s First Short Film: The Black-and-White, Jazz-Scored Bottle Rocket (1992)
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