So let me start out by saying that The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is weird. Some of you, those who have suffered far too many auteurs this semester, know exactly what I’m getting out. But I suspect most of you are puzzled because that statement doesn’t really say anything
That’s the key.
Wes Anderson’s movies are explosive, funny, and quirky (or in one word whimsy-seriously this showed up in every review I read) but they do not make a statement. Life Aquatic is the bottom of the pointless crater that is Wes Anderson’s film career which since Bottle Rocket has been progressively less and less relative to our society. This doesn’t mean his movies aren’t enjoyable (far from it!) but at the end of each one this viewer finds himself asking, what was the point?
The common theme in Wes Anderson’s movies is that dramatic events tend to happen, but we don’t know why. I will start with the most puzzling case from Life Aquatic, but really there are more than I can mention. One of the member’s of Zissou’s crew is a woman who appears topless periodically throughout the film. She has some sort of purpose (job) on the boat, but her being topless only serves to give the movie its R rating. Midway through the film she stages a mutiny against Zissou since she perceives him to be a crazy old man leading them on a suicide mission. She leaves Zissou’s company (along with all of his overworked interns) but the rest of the crew stays behind. Sure, one could argue that the mutiny was justifiable, but only one person leaves! What point does this make? Why is it in the film? Anderson does not answer the question. He does not explain why at the beginning of every event in the movie one of Zissou’s crew members sings a David Bowie song in Portuguese (that is not a joke). He does not explain why in Rushmore Max Fischer is compelled to build Ms. Cross an aquarium. He does not explain why in Bottle Rocket Dignan leads a life of crime. Anderson puts these events on the screen and makes the audience perceive the answers to their questions.
Wes Anderson’s movies tend to dazzle, but there is no substance behind the special effects. Most of Life Aquatic takes place on Zissou’s boat, the Belafonte. The set is a cutaway boat which allows the camera to follow the characters from room to room, level by level throughout the ship. These tracking shots are amazing and the ship appears to be a child’s dream boat. It may look rough from the outside, but inside there is a spa, chemistry lab, library, full kitchen, and observatory. The scenes of the ship were probably my favorite in the movie. But it’s just a toy and Anderson is careful to never let it become more than a playhouse. Outside the ship there are wonderfully colored computer-animated sea creatures that blur the lines between imagination and reality. But for the most part they are not referenced (only the Jaguar shark that Zissou is searching for) nor are they really acknowledged. They’re just flashy. The same can be said of Max Fischer’s plays. They’re elaborate, expensive, and very over the top. They help characterize Max, but they don’t enlighten. In Bottle Rocket Dignan creates very fanciful and intricate schemes to rob people, but they blow up each time because he’s such a screw up. There’s an old saying that if you shoot for the moon and miss, at least you land among the stars. But for somebody as highly regarded as Wes Anderson, it sure would have been nice if he delivered more of a social commentary in his films. He’s sure got style, but that can only take you so far.
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