Wes Anderson and the Not So Simple Style

In Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention, Csikszentmihalyi writes “creative individuals alternate between imagination and fantasy at one end, and a rooted sense in reality at the other.” The whimsically enchanted films of Wes Anderson demonstrate how a balance between nostalgic beauty and an understanding of humanity have created a genre consisting of specific stylistic camera shots and the recurring appearance of Bill Murray and the Wilson brothers. Wes Anderson comes from Houston, Texas and attended the University of Texas to study Philosophy. He roomed with Owen Wilson, the blonde brother, with whom he made his first homemade films and created Bottle Rocket, with help from producer James L. Brooks. It was his first feature film and it “was understated, amusing, very original and a commercial flop.” Even though it struggled Brooks knew Anderson had potential and “saw things differently ‘than the billions of other ants on the hill.’"

The Symmetry of a
Wes Anderson film

 
Wes Anderson films are immediately recognizable by his brilliant Art Nouveau color palettes, symmetric shots, a shoebox set, early and mid twentieth century aesthetic, and a protagonist who is usually “an emotionally stunted man”. The color palettes may change from film to film but everything else stays the same. To an outsider, it seems repetitive and boring after the first three movies, but the beauty is in how easy it is to rewatch each film and notice some new character detail or laugh at a joke missed the first time around; “It’s sort of like if you live near a museum and you know the pictures you’re going to look at, and you go back and visit the same ones every time you go.” Anderson puts so much detail into his films that watching them one time is not enough to fully grasp the film. And each time watching the film you realize a deeper connection to humanity that Anderson hides between the lines.

The idea for each film begins in a different place. Sometimes Anderson basis the whole film off of a character, sometimes off of a place in time. However, this in only the beginning of making a film, “‘the process is actually pinning down and gathering the details it’s going to be built from. Somewhere it shifts from being inspiration to a kind of research.’” To make an Wes Anderson film, Wes Anderson must live the film before he can even begin filming. For example, for his film The Darjeeling Limited Anderson and his two writers traveled through India the same way the three brothers would in the film. As they traveled they also would act out the lines to see what worked best. This builds on Csikszentmihalyi argument that “you really can’t work entirely alone in your place. You want to have fellow artist come talk things over with you...You have to have some sort of feedback.” This resonates with Andersons process in creating films because even though he has a peculiar way of working he still needs others input.
Anderson appreciates the input of his coworkers but he still has the final word because others mostly suggest changes which are “‘the sort of thing we would do if we were making a film that we wanted people to go and see.’” The quirkiness and similarity of all his films is how Anderson created his own genre and sets himself apart from all other directors of Hollywood. While we watch all these other directors evolve their film styles and expand their directing skills among all types of genres, Wes Anderson’s creativity evolves by him becoming more and more himself through each film he makes.

Sources: 

-Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996). Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention. New York:  Harper/Collins. Chapter 3
-From Gucci ads to Instagram fads: how the Wes Anderson aesthetic took over the world 
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/apr/07/from-gucci-ads-to-instagram-fads-how-the-wes-anderson-aesthetic-took-over-the-world
-Interview: Wes Anderson: in a world of his own
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/feb/23/wes-anderson-grand-budapest-hotel-director
-WES ANDERSON: “WE ARE USUALLY DOING IT ONE WAY”
http://the-talks.com/interview/wes-anderson/
-Wes Anderson Explains How to Make a Wes Anderson Film
http://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/wes-anderson-explains-how-to-make-a-wes-anderson-film/
-17 Trademarks of Wes Anderson's Idiosyncratic Filmmaking
https://nofilmschool.com/2018/03/17-trademarks-wes-andersons-idiosyncratic-filmmaking
-https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0027572/-Wes Anderson interview
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/starsandstories/10644172/Wes-Anderson-interview.html
-Honest Trailers - Every Wes Anderson Movie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trWLY6NrS2Q 
-Image source
https://funtastique.fr/les-plans-symetriques-des-films-de-wes-anderson/ 
-Image source
http://archive.boston.com/ae/movies/16_most_extraordinary_Wes_Anderson_characters/