The French Dispatch ★★★½
WES Anderson’s 10th feature film, The French Dispatch, treads familiar ground for the eclectic American film-maker but in a way that will again delight his many fans.
Anderson is a master of examining the idiosyncrasies of human behaviour and, in particular the clashes of cultures and ideals that come with presenting a melange of fascinating and quirky characters within an unique setting.
As usual he enjoys playing with traditional techniques and audience expectations with a wonderful bunch of name actors at his disposal who fall over themselves to appear in his films, many of them multiple times and in sometimes small cameo roles.
The first thing that strikes you is the structure of the film, even more than the wonderful French provincial setting and the decision to largely present the film in standard aspect ratio.
The French Dispatch is the foreign bureau of a fictional American newspaper, the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun.
Established by the newspaper’s eccentric owners, the French bureau has become a beacon for quality journalism featuring articles by many of the country’s best writers and thinkers under the protective guidance of editor Arthur Howitzer Jnr, played by Anderson regular Bill Murray.
We don’t see Howitzer a lot because his death is announced during the film’s narrated prologue, but his figure and influence looms large throughout the three stories that are presented in anthology fashion before we return to the epilogue with the staff working on Howitzer’s obituary which will mark the final edition ever.
The segments – titled ‘The Concrete Masterpiece’, ‘Revisions to a Manifesto’ and ‘The Private Dining Room of the Police Commissioner’ – are also the titles of the main stories that will feature in the final edition.
In addition to presenting the content of the article visually, each segment recounts the author’s interaction with Howitzer during the preparation and editing process.
It’s a great idea – I’m not sure whether it’s been done before – and expertly ties the events and themes together in a way that ensures the film never gets completely out of hand.
The cast is unbelievable and also includes Benicio del Toro, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Léa Seydoux, Frances McDormand, Timothée Chalamet, Jeffrey Wright, Willem Dafoe, Christoph Waltz, Rupert Friend, Liev Schreiber, Edward Norton, Saoirse Ronan, Elisabeth Moss, Griffin Dunne, Owen Wilson and co-writer Jason Schwartzman
How’s that for a line-up!
The criticisms I have of the film are few. Two of the segments are a little long and the anthology structure won’t suit everyone, despite it being largely successful. I would have also liked to see a little more of Murray’s character on-screen because it suited his persona perfectly.
It may not be Anderson’s best effort but, like Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Darjeeling Limited, The Fantastic Mr Fox, The Grand Budapest Hotel etc, it will reward with repeated viewings.