![]() ![]() The casualness with which Sazerac responds “sort of” is telling in this regard, as it is an indication that the focalizing figures are willing to play fast and loose with the facts, to dispel with matters of verisimilitude if it gets in the way of a good story. What we are seeing is not the actual France, Anderson signals to us, but a representation of France moulded through the myopic perspective of his characters, who view the land through a perspective of cultural ignorance. ![]() The French Dispatch adds an extra layer of distanciation to the proceedings: the film’s main characters are all Americans, stationed in France but reporting on the culture for a paper intended for readers in Kansas. Both films foreground their artifice through the use of painted backdrops, antiquated special effects, transitions in aspect ratio and – in the case of The French Dispatch – a sudden switch to 2-D animation. The Grand Budapest Hotel is set in the fictional Eastern European nation of Zubrowka, while The French Dispatch is set in the fictional French village of Ennui-sur-Blasé (that name, in itself, should be an indication of the register Anderson is working on here) The Grand Budapest Hotel establishes something akin to a nesting doll structure, nestling the central narrative within four different framing devices, each one of which takes place at a different era of history, while The French Dispatch dramatizes a series of fictionalized articles by fictionalized writers, while simultaneously showing the process of the pieces being conceived, workshopped and edited within the newspaper offices (the illustrations, section headings, and photo spreads which would accompany these feature articles are also incorporated into the structure as 2-dimensional inserts). Many of the same strategies are used to achieve this end. Much like Anderson’s other epically scaled period drama The Grand Budapest Hotel, The French Dispatch is deeply rooted in a sense of nostalgia for a lost way of life, and, as in that earlier film, The French Dispatch constantly reminds the viewer that the simulacra of history it paints is filtered through a rose-tinted lens. It’s a brief, tossed-off moment, but it stood out to me for what it implicitly suggests about Anderson’s attitude towards history, nostalgia, and cultures which exist outside the comfortable familiarity of North America. Hermes, the resident cartoonist, mulls over Sazerac’s proposal and then asks, “is that true?” Sazerac pauses for a moment and then casually replies, “Sort of”. Here, however, Anderson undercuts the line with a joke. ![]() As they move on to discuss the creation of the periodical, the travel writer Herbsaint Sazerac (Owen Wilson) interjects to suggest that Wright opens the new section with the wistful statement “It began as a holiday…” It’s a self-conscious call-back to the very opening line of the film, delivered by Anjelica Huston’s arch narrator before going on to establish The French Dispatch’s central characters, setting and themes. Food critic Roebuck Wright (Jeffrey Wright) writes the first line, and then continues to type as each staff member verbally offers their own contribution to the piece. Howitzer stipulated in his will that, upon his passing, the publication of the paper is to immediately cease, following the release of a final issue comprised of highlights sourced from previous issues. ![]() (Bill Murray), the founder and editor-in-chief of the fictional newspaper of the title. Towards the end of Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch, a group of staff writers, illustrators and other assorted staff members gather to collectively produce an obituary for Arthur Howitzer Jr. The French Dispatch ultimately amounts to nothing more than hollow juvenilia.” Anderson is evidently not without talent, but he has continuously proven to be content to rest on his laurels…. ![]()
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