December 31, 2004

anderson and the fourth wall

Aside from the acoustic Bowie covers sung in Portugese, the best thing about Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou has got to be the set.  The two scenes that make the rounds of the ship – the tour and then the argument – left me speechless.  In each of his films Anderson gets more adventurous with the fourth wall; his characters aren’t talking directly to the audience, but the set, the Bowie covers and the highly stylized animated fish are each reminders that You’re Watching A Movie.