Written by Matt Zoller Seitz
with an introduction written by Michael Chabon
Published by Harry N. Abrams
1st Edition October 8, 2013
336 pages
As I anxiously await the arrival of Writer/Director Wes Anderson's latest opus, "The Grand Budapest Hotel" to arrive in my city this coming weekend, I am just so excited to share with you something that I have been keeping in my "back pocket" until this perfect time, something that I received as a gift this past Christmas and when I opened it up, I knew that Santa Claus was very good to me!!
The Wes Anderson Collection is nothing less than a treasure trove of delights for the Wes Anderson fan and devotee (like myself) and I truly believe that the book will also serve to squash some serious misconceptions some audience members and film critics have harbored towards this most idiosyncratic filmmaker and artist. There has always seemed to be this perception that Wes Anderson is having some sort of disingenuous laugh over all of us and at our expense, as if there is an underlying insincerity to his films or that the emotional core of each excursion is as prefabricated as the derisively named "dollhouse" quality of his stories, characters and the landscapes that they populate. This is a perception that Wes Anderson fully acknowledges himself within the book's many interview sections:
"You don't have to pull up a lot of reviews to find people that hate what I do...Maybe they would hate my movies even more if I took away the things they say they hate, but at a certain point, what am I going to do? I don't read minds, so I guess I'll just do what I want to do. And what I want to do has a lot to do with what I enjoy about movies."
Amen.
This particular criticism of Wes Anderson's films, that he is somehow an inauthentic filmmaker, is something that I can understand to a point simply because it is not expected that every single viewer will indeed enjoy the kinds of movies that Wes Anderson makes, especially in the style that he makes them. For instance, and as I expressed to you in the questionnaire I posted recently on this blogsite, while I do respect filmmakers like David Cronenberg and David Lynch for being the idiosyncratic figures that they are, many of their works just do not appeal to me. But for Wes Anderson, it seems as if there is the tendency to not even concede any respect to him as a filmmaker who possess his own singular creative vice and vision during a time when such American filmmakers are in such short supply.
While The Wes Anderson Collection will certainly not make converts of any of Anderson's detractors, I do think this excellent book, so lavishly and meticulously produced and presented (much like Anderson's actual films), will go a long way to providing those people with copious amounts of insights into Wes Anderson's creative process and the deep sincerity that lies at the heart of his chosen craft. And furthermore, for us fans, this book is further vindication that he is truly one of the finest cinematic auteurs we have working today.
In true innovative fashion, The Wes Anderson Collection is not presented as a straightforward biography or as a standard book of film analysis. Rather film critic/filmmaker/author Matt Zoller Seitz has concocted a reading experience that merges the literary, journalistic and the visual absolutely brilliantly and in a way that perhaps any of Anderson's most industrious characters may have devised themselves. Let me give you an insight into what you will experience should you choose to pick up a copy of this very reasonably priced and essentially coffee table sized book by describing the contents of the section devoted to the film "Rushmore" (1998).
Beginning with Seitz's self-described 1,190 word essay, the "Rushmore" section continues with the 9,446 word interview between Seitz and Anderson, during which they extensively revisit and discuss the film from inspirations, conceptions, writing, filmmaking, character motivations, collaborations with his actors (most notably Bill Murray), and finally, the receptions and further recollections. All of the conversational text is interspersed with a gold mine of visual treats that include, in addition to production storyboards, stills from the behind the scenes production as well as stills from the finished film...
"THE ROOTS OF RUSHMORE":
-See the inspiration for the school crests depicted in all three of the film's fictional educational facilities.
-See how Tom Cruise circa Paul Brickman's "Risky Business" (1983), Noah Taylor in John Duigan's "Flirting" (1991) and even early 1960's era Mick Jagger all inspired the look of the character of Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman).
-See how The Kinks, Devo and Vince Guaraldi's classic music for the television "Peanuts" specials all played a role in the film's celebrated soundtrack.
"SHOT BY SHOT":
-See how the visual/cinematic designs of works as seemingly disparate as Orson Welles "Citizen Kane" (1941) and "The Magnificent Ambersons" (1942), Elia Kazan's "On The Waterfront" (1954), Francois Truffaut's "The 400 Blows" (1959), Mike Nichols' "The Graduate" (1967), Hal Ashby's "Harold And Maude" (1971), Michael Cimino's "The Deer Hunter" (1978), Tony Scott's "Top Gun" (1986), and even Jonathan Demme's "The Silence Of The Lambs" (1991), plus the work of graphic designer Saul Bass, all extended themselves seamlessly into Anderson's own cinematic aesthetic in lavishly illuminating shot-by-shot comparisons.
THE INFLUENCE OF CHARLES M. SCHULZ
-In this section, you will also be able to witness hwo the legendary work of "Peanuts" creator Charles M. Schulz played a hugely significant role in the creation of "Rushmore," through characters, situations and even wardrobe choices.
And if that still was not enough for you, The Wes Anderson Collection presents this exact same amount of material for each and every one of es Anderson's films from his debut feature "Bottle Rocket" (1996) all the way through to "Moonrise Kingdom" (2012) and even includes the stop motion animated "Fantastic Mr. Fox" (2009). It's ALL here!!
Since receiving this book, I have poured through the sections devoted to "Rushmore" and "The Royal Tennebaums" (2001) feeling completely enraptured to have been given the opportunity to see how this filmmaker has actually accomplished all that he has. To see the amount of thought, inspiration and sheer devotion to the world of cinema that he has placed into his own works has not only been profoundly enlightening and inspiring, I have found myself not only wanting to view these films all over again, now armed with fresh insights. I am anxious to dive into the remaining sections of the book and I am just certain that if you love Wes Anderson as much as I do, this book is undoubtedly the perfect companion piece.
And for those who remain skeptical as to Wes Anderson's cinematic intentions, I think it is time to allow the man to speak for himself with another quotation from the book's many lengthy interviews:
"It's not like I want to announce to the audience, 'We're gonna do this in one long take, and we're gonna move over here, and we'e gonna have smoke come through, and then we're gonna pan over there, and then we're gonna have a whatever-it-is, a this part will be in slow motion thing.' None of that is meant to be deliberately taking you out of the movie. It's supposed to make it better."
Again, I say, "Amen."
Amen to a filmmaker, still so young and who has already accomplished so very much, who is always aspiring of ways to just make his films better, better enough so they can be the very best films they can possibly be. If that is not an artist, especially in these instant gratification times, then I do not know what is. The Wes Anderson Collection effectively captures it all in one place, a most handsome package that I am certain that you will excitedly enjoy opening again and again.
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