Film, Music & Books Growing up in Houston, Texas in the 1970s, Anderson's love of mov- ie-making developed from an early age. He would often use his father's Super 8 camera to make silent films starring his family and friends, al- though his film career really began in his early twenties. The turning point came while studying philosophy at university, where he met his future friend and frequent collaborator Owen Wilson. HIS MOVIES ARE BOTH HUMOROUS AND SOAKED IN MELANCHOLY In 1996, Anderson's directorial debut Bottle Rocket, co-written with Wilson, was released to widespread critical acclaim. Starring Owen Wilson and his brother Luke, the film playfully juggles many of the recurring story- telling elements and character traits that would develop throughout An- derson's subsequent filmography: the protagonist is usually an innocent bystander faced with a life-shaking decision or predicament, the story is both humorous and soaked in mel- ancholy, but undeniably rich with the absurdity and unpredictable nature of life. Rushmore, Anderson's next feature, also co-written with Wilson, was re- leased in 1998, and starred Bill Mur- ray and newcomer Jason Schwartz- man. Set and partially filmed in Anderson and Wilson's old high school in Houston, Texas, the story revolves around eccentric 15-year- old student Max Fischer, played by Schwartzman. The character of Max is a combination of both Anderson and Wilson's personalities, a pre- cociously talented and passionate student whose overachieving and competitive nature isolates him from his peers. Much like Anderson in his high school years, Max is obsessed with staging ambitious and larger- than-life theatre productions. The film also marked the beginning of Anderson's ongoing friendship and collaboration with legendary actor Bill Murray, who has performed in every one of his movies since. Following the success of Rushmore, Anderson's next feature The Royal Tenenbaums was an ambitious mul- ti-layered family saga made possible by a star-studded cast all working for heavily reduced fees. Anderson's relaxed and playful approach to di- recting had already won him the re- spect of some of Hollywood's A-List actors, who helped to make these low-budget films come to life with a familiar and uniquely talented cast. The stakes were high, but again with Anderson's sensibility and vision for storytelling he managed to pull it off while also tipping his hat to personal heroes Orson Welles and François Truffaut. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Anderson's fourth feature, saw Bill Murray at the helm of this heartfelt tribute to the French oceanographer Jacques Cousteau. The oceanic love story combines many of Anderson's well-known storytelling elements and oddball characters, but also includes several intricate and elab- orately staged sets, which further reveal his immense and unique tal- ent for visual storytelling. The icon- ic use of intricately choreographed tracking-shots and symmetrical cin- ematography illustrate his early love for the theatrical medium. For one extraordinary sequence, an enor- mous 46m long cross-section of the Belafonte research vessel was built. As the actors played out the scene from one room to another, the cam- era had the freedom to follow them around as in a giant doll-house. HIS TRADEMARK STYLE HAS EARNED HIM MULTIPLE NOMINATIONS AND AWARDS Having established his own unique and highly recognisable trademark style of filmmaking, Wes Anderson's efforts have earned him multiple prestigious awards and nominations, including an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay for The Royal Tenen- baums. Moreover, while Anderson's visual approach to his films is so iconic, it became obvious that this, combined with his deeply personal, idiosyncratic form of storytelling, is key to the emotional appeal of his films. This was again evident in his next project, The Darjeeling Limited, in which Anderson and his cast and crew set off to India to make anoth- er family affair about three brothers reuniting on a journey across India to find their estranged mother after their father's death. His sixth feature film, the wonderfully silly and playful stop-frame adven- ture Fantastic Mr. Fox, was adapted from Roald Dahl's famous children's novel. Next was Moonrise Kingdom. Similar to Rushmore, this story al- lowed him to revisit many of his own youthful character traits, this time embodied by the story's 12-year-old protagonist, Sam Shakusky. Sam's character, like many of the children in Anderson's films, is a passionate yet introverted child who is very mature for his age and feels misunderstood by the adults around him. 48 ON THE MOVE MAGAZINE #13
