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Wes Anderson

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Wesley Anderson

Wesley Wales Anderson (born May 1, 1969) is an American writer, producer, and director of films and commercials. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

Biography

Anderson, the middle child of three brothers, was born in Houston, Texas. His father, Melver Leonard Anderson, was in advertising, and his mother, Texas Ann Burroughs, was an archaeologist and is now a real estate agent.

He attended St. John's School, a private school in Houston, later used as a filming location for his second film, Rushmore. Like Rushmore's protagonist Max Fischer, Anderson used to stage plays of his own direction on the stage of the now-demolished Hoodwink Theatre at St. John's.

Anderson studied philosophy at the University of Texas, where he met Owen Wilson. After making a short film version of Bottle Rocket, Anderson and Wilson attracted the notice of producer James L. Brooks. With his help they were able to get their short film into Sundance and secure funding for the feature-length version of Bottle Rocket.

Anderson lives in New York City and Los Angeles. He is friends with filmmaker Noah Baumbach, actor/screenwriter Owen Wilson, and Sofia Coppola. His brother, Eric, is a set designer on his films. His other brother, Mel, is a doctor.

Film Work

Wes Anderson has been called an auteur,[1] heavily involved in every aspect of his films' production: writing, cinematography, production design, music selection, etc.

Influences

Anderson has acknowledged that French directors François Truffaut and Louis Malle influenced his penchant for sympathetic tragicomedy, unconventional mis-en-scene, and personal approach to filmmaking.[citation needed] He often cites Mike Nichols' The Graduate as a recurring inspiration.[citation needed] Anderson is also noted for drawing on famous works of American literature, particularly those of F. Scott Fitzgerald and J.D. Salinger.[citation needed] Fitzgerald's famous quote, "There are no second acts in American lives," applies to many of Anderson's characters, who tend to fall quickly from their initial success and renown (although many of them make limited comebacks). Salinger influences are seen in Bottle Rocket (Anthony and his sister's relationship parallels Phoebe and Holden Caulfield The Catcher in the Rye, and both girls have a friend named Bernice) and Rushmore (Max is expelled from his prestigious school, as is Caulfield).[citation needed] The family structure in The Royal Tenenbaums also echoes Salinger's Glass family, each of the Glass children being renowned to some degree in the same way each of the Tenenbaum children achieve their respective success. Also, the scene in The Royal Tenenbaums where Etheline visits Margot who is soaking in the bathtub. This scene mirrors much of Franny and Zooey where Zooey is soaking in the tub, smoking and talking to his mother, Bessie [citation needed]

Anderson's stylized films also borrow youthful aesthetic qualities from comics such as Charles Schulz's Peanuts (The Royal Tenenbaums/Rushmore) and Hergé's The Adventures of Tintin graphic novels (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou). A less well-known aesthetic influence is the French photographer Jacques Henri Lartigue: the name Zissou derives from Lartigue's brother's name, and his old photos reveal similarities with Anderson's visuals.[citation needed]

Anderson has recently acknowledged that he went to India to film his 2007 film, "The Darjeeling Limited" partly as a tribute to the legendary Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray, whose "films have also inspired all my other movies in different ways". He dedicated the movie to the Indian filmmaker's memory.[2]

Collaborators

Anderson's films feature many of the same actors, crew members, and other collaborators:

Recent work

In 2005, Anderson produced The Squid and the Whale, written and directed by Life Aquatic co-writer Noah Baumbach. It won two awards at the Sundance Film Festival.[citation needed] In 2006, he directed and starred in a "My Life, My Card" American Express commercial.

Owen Wilson reunited with Anderson on the 2007 film, The Darjeeling Limited. The script is written by Anderson, Roman Coppola and Jason Schwartzman.[3] Anderson's stop-motion animation adaptation of the Roald Dahl book, Fantastic Mr Fox is slated for 2009 release.

Acclaim and criticism

Critical reviews of Anderson's early work were positive, with some exceptions. His second film Rushmore was a critical darling, and many argued that Anderson would soon become a major artistic voice in American cinema.[citation needed] Many critics noted a strong sense of sympathetic but intelligent humanism in Anderson's films that linked them to the work of Jean Renoir and François Truffaut.[citation needed] Filmmaker Martin Scorsese is a fan of Anderson's, praising Bottle Rocket and Rushmore in an Esquire magazine article.[citation needed] The Royal Tenenbaums was also a critical favorite and garnered Anderson an Academy Award nomination. The film was his first high-profile commercial success, featuring several established movie stars.[citation needed]

In September 2006, following the disappointing commercial and critical reception of The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Steely Dan's Walter Becker and Donald Fagen released a tongue-in-cheek "letter of intervention" of Anderson's artistic "malaise". Proclaiming themselves to be fans of "World Cinema" and Anderson in particular, they offered Anderson their soundtrack services for his forthcoming The Darjeeling Limited film, including lyrics for a title track.[4]

Anderson has also been criticized by journalist Jonah Weiner for his allegedly shallow portrayals of non-white characters. [1] Reihan Salam of The Atlantic Monthly offered a rebuttal to this line of criticism. [2]

Advertising

In September 2007, Wes Anderson oversaw a series of six commercials for AT&T: “College Kid,” “Reporter,” “Mom,” “Architect,” “Actor” and “Businessman.” The campaign also includes online, print and outdoor advertising. These TV spots are part of AT&T's "Your Seamless World" national campaign from BBDO/New York. Each ad embodies Anderson's distinct style by focusing on a subject and having the environment around them change. Each of the six AT&T commercials introduces us to a different AT&T customer ranging from an architect, an actor and a mother to a reporter, salesman and student. As each of these people comes before the camera and talks about the different, far-reaching locales where he or she needs cell-phone service, the visuals behind the customer change dramatically to reflect the different destinations, be it a red-carpet premiere in London, war-torn Beirut and student housing in Prague, among others.[citation needed]

The "Reporter" piece was subject to controversy when several Lebanese-American groups protested its airing as ignorant given the complex and sensitive nature of the Lebanese political situation. The ad portrayed photojournalists dodging bullets on a Beirut rooftop while the city was being bombed. It was subsequently pulled from rotation after the the assassination of Antoine Ghanem on September 19, 2007 with AT&T and BBDO issuing public apologies.[3]

Fashion

Anderson has become increasingly known for his contemporary suits, which he wears on most occasions from directing to giving talks. Many fashion critics have complimented him on his style, and use of traditional designs. At the London International Film Festival, Anderson commented that he was suprised at the attention, and that the suits were made by a gentleman on New York's 5th Avenue for him.[citation needed]

Filmography

Feature films

Short films

References

  1. ^ Smith, Derek (2004). "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou". Cinematic Reflections. Retrieved 2007-08-22. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  2. ^ "On Ray's Trail". The Statesman. Retrieved 2007-10-19.
  3. ^ "Wilson & Anderson reminisce over a cup of Darjeeling". Production Weekly. 2006. Retrieved 2007-08-22. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  4. ^ Becker, Walter (2006). "Attention Wes Anderson". Steely Dan. Retrieved 2007-08-22. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
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