Wes Anderson is one of those auteurs like Tim Burton: directors with a strong design aesthetic who care as much about color and composition as they do about story, and who enjoy collaborating with the same actors over and over. Anderson’s body of work includes numerous critical favorites and sleeper hits, but he’s yet to crack boxoffice blockbuster territory. Even so, the themes of alienation, loss, the human yearning for connection, and the imperfect but ultimately hopeful refuge of family that run through his work are entirely relatable and touching, however quirky his films’ characters and outlandish his films’ circumstances may seem.
His ongoing interest in closely examining the relationships between smart but flawed and emotionally crippled family members brings to mind J.D. Salinger’s recurring characters from the Glass family in Nine Stories, Raise High the Roofbeam, Carpenters and Seymour an Introduction, and Franny and Zooey. (Regrettably, Salinger’s publisher has not elected to release any of these in Kindle format.) Anderson’s work also shares Salinger’s penchant for the ridiculousness and humor of the everyday.
The fine art community has embraced Anderson’s aesthetic and Spoke Art is featuring an entire show (both online and in its gallery) of artworks inspired by Anderson’s films. Many of the works are available to buy as prints, and some of the original artworks are for sale, too. The show’s title, Bad Dads, speaks to one of Anderson’s favored themes.
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Anderson’s parents divorced when he was a young child, an event he described as “the most crucial event of my brothers and my growing up”. During childhood, Anderson also began writing plays and making Super 8 movies. He was educated at Westchester High School and then St. John’s School, a private prep school in Houston, Texas, which was later to prove an inspiration for the film Rushmore (1998).
After graduating from school, Anderson attended the University of Texas in Austin, majoring in philosophy. It was here he met Owen Wilson. They became firm friends and began making short films, some of which aired on a local cable access station. One of their shorts was Bottle Rocket (1994), which starred Owen and his brother Luke Wilson. The short was screened at the Sundance Film Festival, where it was successfully received, so much so that they received funding to make a future length version. Bottle Rocket (1996) was not a commercial hit, but gained a cult audience and high profile fans, including Martin Scorsese.
Success followed with films such as Rushmore (1998), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) and the animated feature, The Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), the latter two films earning Anderson Oscar nominations.
Frequently casts Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, Andrew Wilson, Bill Murray, Kumar Pallana, Dipak Pallana, Brian Tenenbaum, Stephen Dignan, and Anjelica Huston.
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Unfortunately, Anderson’s first two films, Bottle Rocket and Rushmore (arguably, one of his best) have not been released in Instant Video format.
The Royal Tenenbaums (R, 3.5/5 stars, currently priced at $1.99 to rent and $9.99 to buy)
An estranged family of former child prodigies reunites when one of their member announces he has a terminal illness.
The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (R, 3.5/5 stars, currently priced at $1.99 to rent and $9.99 to buy)
With a plan to exact revenge on a mythical shark that killed his partner, oceanographer Steve Zissou rallies a crew that includes his estranged wife, a journalist, and a man who may or may not be his son.
The Darjeeling Limited (R, 3.5/5 stars, currently priced at $2.99 to rent and $9.99 to buy)
One year after their father’s funeral, three brothers travel across India by train in an attempt to bond with one another.
The Fantastic Mr. Fox (PG, 4.5/5 stars, currently priced at $2.99 to rent and $9.99 to buy)
An urbane fox cannot resist returning to his farm raiding ways and then must help his community survive the farmers’ retaliation.
Mr. and Mrs. Fox live a happy home life with their eccentric son Ash and visiting nephew Kristopherson. That is until Mr. Fox slips into his sneaky, old ways and plots the greatest chicken heist the animal world has ever seen.
Moonrise Kingdom (PG-13, 4/5 stars, currently priced at $3.99 to rent and $14.99 to buy)
Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray and Frances McDormand star in filmmaker Wes Anderson’s story of two 12-year-olds who run away together, turning their peaceful Northeast island community upside-down. Featuring Tilda Swinton, Jason Schwartzman and Bob Balaban.