The French Dispatch

A nostalgic tale that Anderson constructs carefully with his surrealist style to tell the engaging tales behind a newspaper publishing company.

Anderson's style is one that resonates with me very deeply with the formulaic combination of organisation and creativity that he creates with the unsubtle use of symmetry and often a descriptive narrative. Within the first few seconds of The French Dispatch, I felt myself being once again drawn into the surreal fantasy world that Anderson used his motifs to create. The style was not the only recognisable element that caught my attention as numerous cast members such as Owen Wilson, Saoirse Ronan, Tilda Swinton, and Tony Revolori reappear in another film creating a sense of comfort. Many audiences of Anderson’s films have argued that his repetitive techniques, cast and narrative tropes have begun to reduce the value of his films however I would argue similarly to Anderson’s response to this criticism that the unique way that Anderson has chosen to tell his stories, for many viewers, allow the audience to lose themselves in his delicate constructions. without associating each viewing experience with another.

It would be difficult to ignore the continuous sense of magnificence that Anderson creates with his sets such as the grand hotel structure he created for his previous hit ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ and within these films where countless locations had been used which correlated with his choice of an explicitly noticeable episodic structure. A clear essence of nostalgia looms over the film with bold use of a greyscale colour palette, symbolic of the theme of tabloids, alongside references to rebellious French youth which he masterfully illustrates through the sophisticated choice of costume. Furthermore, the soundtrack, arranged by Alexandre Desplat, indulges itself within these reminiscent aesthetics with a similar tone that feels sophisticated yet chaotic at times. It would be difficult to pinpoint every element that contributes to the complex style of this film however this clearly indicates Anderson’s ability to engage an audience like no other with an authentic choice of techniques that tell an unconventional story.

One criticism I might make of the film, however, would in fact be the use of voice-over which at times would certainly be appropriate to Anderson’s films however often feels lazy and unnecessary, taking into account his capabilities. To an extent in any film a voice-over can be very helpful in creating a vital piece of exposition which otherwise may not be understood, however, it felt as if this technique had been severely overused throughout the film to the point where removing it would completely remove much of the meaning from the film. Perhaps Anderson believes that 'show don't tell' is a concept to be subverted, however personally, I feel that he could so easily include much of this voice-over as actions within the scene which would make it slightly more engaging in my opinion. In addition, the voice-overs he uses are often characterized by fast-paced dialogue with complex vocabulary which makes understanding the story far more difficult for a particular audience such as me who has a slower processing capacity and therefore made it difficult to follow the dialogue.

Overall I’d say that Anderson’s new work of art didn’t fail to meet the high standards that I set for his work as the style and substance of the film were orchestrated in such a way that it was an easy watch despite the ordinary narrative which he has clearly considered strongly to turn into a mainstream comedy/romance. I would therefore give The French Dispatch 4 stars as I was able to enjoy the cinematic experience thoroughly and can’t wait to see what he releases next.