Through the Director's Lens: Quote Unquote Fantastic Wes Anderson

The luxurious interiors of The Grand Budapest Hotel. The stunning orientalism in The Darjeeling Limited. The small-town charms and innocent love portrayed in Moonrise Kingdom. The comeliness of animals brought to life in Fantastic Mr. Fox. Each Wes Anderson movie is a peculiar and distinctive masterpiece. Yet, when you zoom out and look at all the films, you will realise that all of them have many things in common. The way he builds his narratives, using camera angles and shot lengths to convey a particular tone while paying relentless attention to detail - all of them together will help us analyse how Anderson has developed his own unique style and why he is one of the most successful directors in American cinema.

Aesthetics

Along with the signature Futura font, Anderson utilizes the Art Nouveau colour palette - muted and sombre yet extremely visually appealing. Be it the rich mustard yellows of Fantastic Mr. Fox or the earthy sage greens of Moonrise Kingdom - the director blurs the lines of colour theory and combines his dark subjects with vibrant and saturated frames. The association of objects and clothing to define personalities is a recurrent trope in all of his movies. For instance, Gustave’s purple attire and Suzie’s binoculars. The art direction and whimsical microworlds make it look like the films are straight out of a pastel storybook while having their own chromatic language. However, in this child-like colourful world, the audience does not feel disjointed from the narrative since the tones blend with the seriousness of issues and relatability of the characters.

Narrative and Speech

The way a plot progresses in a film matters a lot, and how the characters act out the story matters just as much. Anderson movies often feature dysfunctional families having an abundance of characters with little idiosyncrasies. The children in his movies are extremely mature and they think and talk like grown-ups, while contrastingly, the adults act like kids and try to resolve problems using juvenile means. For example, in Darjeeling Limited, Peter travelled to India instead of being with his pregnant wife. The pattern of speech employed by them is erratic, quick-paced, and sometimes, surreal. Another thing that you will notice is how the films seem to be divided into chapters, enhancing the storybook-like feel. This is explicitly done in Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Grand Budapest Hotel. Narrative and acting are marked by an extreme eccentricity which is mostly employed to give a comedic effect, pulling you into a beautiful microworld of its own.

Camera Language

Whether it is the slow-motion techniques to symbolise a scene or the map view to follow a plan, camera movements in Wes Anderson movies play an important role in setting the tone for a scene. A major aspect of his films, one that anyone can notice at first glance, are symmetrical frames as the director presents us with flat compositions that have a one-point perspective. With aesthetic backgrounds and monochrome settings, he employs a top-down look at certain significant objects to isolate them, forcing the audience to notice even small bits of information. Another feature that strikes viewers are the tracking methods where the camera moves with the characters, as we see in the iconic The Grand Budapest Hotel scene of Zero’s interview. Further adding to the whimsy are the segments where characters are conversing - the eccentric and witty dialogues are aided by whip pans and tilts making a quick change in focus. Such scenes feel direct and precise, further sucking you into the fantasy.

We tried breaking down the Wes Anderson visual style for you, but there’s so much more to his direction that can be experienced only by watching his movies. So, make sure to check out his filmography and appreciate the cinematic genius that he is.