The world is better for having a filmmaker like Wes Anderson in it. There simply are not nearly enough young filmmakers out there working with the express feeling of bringing joy and thoughtful consideration into cinema goers’ lives.
There is a point blank sense of fun to his films. It is as if he wants to just make you smile for the duration of his film. In THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS he made me hold my nose to keep from snort laughing. Something that very rarely happens with me, usually only when I’m trying to suppress a guffaw, but what winds up happening is a suppression of my vocal chords and the outward expulsion of air. Then there is the nose snort laugh, the most embarrassing of all laughter, thus the pinched nose. However, though I tried to keep all sound from escaping, this ultrasonic high pitched squeal would occasionally escape like a corporate attorney’s fart, or air escaping a pinched opening of a balloon.
The problem with this is Patch and her sister, Xenia Onatopp, were both infected by my stricken nature. Terrible terrible thing. It hardly ever strikes this bad. And one of the things that stunned me about the film was the production design is what had me laughing hardest. Just absurdist paintings behind characters that behooved everything they were saying, turning it on its ear and made sure that I caught the wink that someone… Wes? …was firing in my general location.
Now having said that, I have to say that Patch, Xenia and myself seemed to be the only people that were laughing throughout the film. Usually laughter was only coming at the clearly labeled jokes, same problem happened during THE MAN WHO WASN’T THERE. Seems many were looking at this film as a drama first and a comedy second.
I can understand that, far more than either BOTTLE ROCKET or RUSHMORE, this film has quite a bit of serious items to talk about.
The problems of genius (IE the light that burns brightest burns half as long), the distancing of family relations through misfires and erratic interpretations of events, and ultimately resolving the issues of life before it is too late. These are all met with tongue firmly pressed in cheek while painting in broad strokes.
Wes also seemed to understand that he had too many characters in this opus to fully develop the various characters to their logical need, so instead he has their actions and dialogue give us as much as they could, but he completes the details about who they are by way of their stuff. Their surroundings, the items they own, the way they dress, their habits, etc.
It is in these rich rich details that the hilarity is released and developed. You add to this the absurdist quality of some of the dialogue which can be taken as sad or funny… all depending on where your personal head is at… Well, frankly that is what makes this film such a marvel.
I walked away laughing and giggling my little fool head off, I saw others walk away a bit sullen and depressed. Had we seen the same movie. No. Not at all, I was in a goofy mood, those whom I saw the film with were in a giggly mood, we were looking for and received delicious delight. Others, it seems, saw the film and saw all the sadness of a dysfunctional family that’s eccentricities have crippled and paralyzed and traumatized all involved into life in an iron lung.
There is so much here, I love that you can look at this movie and see two completely distinct films. Take away totally different experiences. So many films are crafted to be one thing to everyone, but a movie that is honed to have layers of interpretation… that asks the viewer and challenges them to quantify their experience in their own manner… and that you quickly can find other perspectives beyond just whether or not others like or dislike it… but that in discussing the film with them, that they saw an entirely different type of movie… THAT IS BEAUTIFUL.
I could enumerate and pontificate about the entire ensemble of characters, but I would rather you discover these eccentric characters on your own. There is a lot to discover here. They each have their familial lives and their private lives. These are different things.
We are in Christmas. You just went to dinner or exchanged gifts with the extended family relations in your own life. Did you cuss in front of them, smoke a little pot/tobacco, do they know you drink, spend all your time in chatrooms? Would they understand why you looked at that autopsy photo website or thought about why you like to wear comfy pinky house slippers? Maybe you do none of these, but instead you have a secret collection of thimbles or rubber galoshes. The family knows you’re married, but do they or the wife know about the time in the strip club and the missing $50 a week in lap dances?
Well in THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS the characters have their own fetishistic devices and private loves. What happens when they start to come out in the open? How will the others that saw you as a "NORMAL" person… How will they accept that? Will they? Could they? What will Uncle Charlie think when he finds out that you’ve been whacking off/stirring the pot to the thought of Cousin Joe/Josie?
In a way, ROYAL TENENBAUMS is about the skeletons in the closet and about nosey family relations and unfortunate circumstances that drag it all into the living room.
The performances were all perfectly matched with the characters. My favorite has to be the title character played by Gene Hackman. I would adore to see him win awards for his Royal Tenenbaum. It is one of the most alive and vital roles I've seen him play in years. It reminded me of why I used to look at Gene Hackman movies with anticipation. This year he's made two of these... this and Mamet's THE HEIST, I prefer this character and this performance, because it is so wonderfully nuanced, both in writing and in the delivery. I found no weak links acting wise here, but this.... This is one of the great characters in cinema this year.
Right now there are three filmmakers working that are making this type of film. Spike Jonze, Wes Anderson and Alexander Payne. Three of the absolute most exciting and imaginative filmmakers working today. Wes Anderson continues to excite and thrill with this movie. It isn’t always an easy film and sometimes it is down right uncomfortable or disturbing, but I found it thoroughly engaging.
