The French Dispatch (2021), written, produced, and directed by Wes Anderson (Grand Budapest Hotel, Fantastic Mr Fox), is a comedy drama film set in the fictional French town of Ennui-sur-Blasé. The French Dispatch narrates three different storylines as the French bureau of the fictional newspaper Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun publishes its final issue. Robert D. Yeoman ASC (American Society of Cinematographers) assumed the role of lead cinematographer. From accomplished veterans and budding new-comers, The French Dispatch is equipped with a star-studded ensemble of capable actors and actresses.
The French Dispatch is shot in 35mm celluloid film in two aspect ratios: 2.39:1 and 1.37:1, giving the film an archaic, 'old school' look. Anderson absorbs influence from 60s French New Wave films like Vivre Sa Vie by Jean Luc-Godard and The Fire Within by Louis Malle. Anderson's fondness for 60s French cinema is made apparent in "Revisions of a Manifesto" which adopts a Godardian pastiche.
The first magazine story "The Concrete Masterpiece" centers on Moses Rosenthaler, a skilled artist, a prisoner sentenced to life for double homicide, and involved in a love affair with his muse and prison guard, Simone (Léa Seydoux). Julian Cadazio (Adrien Brody) legally represents Moses in the highfalutin art world, and frankly is a novice art dealer with more interest in monetary gain.
The second magazine story "Revisions to a Manifesto" is a whimsical pageant revolving around the 1968 student protests in Paris. With especial focus on Zeffirelli (Timothée Chalamet), the angsty figurehead of the pretentious movement, and Lucinda Krementz (Frances McDormand), a French Dispatch reporter who breaks the journalistic code of objectivity when she inserts herself into the story.
The final magazine story "The Private Dining Room of the Police Commissioner" focuses on Roebuck Wright's (Jeffrey Wright) attempt at profiling the prestigious chef Lt. Nescaffier (Steve Cook) who works in a police station kitchen, and the ensuing kidnapping of Gigi, (Winsen Ait Hellal) the son of the Commissioner (Mathieu Amalric).
Every story has it's individual style and distinct tone. Anderson utilises an array of media footage such as animation, graphics, still lifes, and visual quirks and gags, strung together by Alexandre Desplat's jubilant scores and Anderson's linear narrative.
Herbsaint Sazerac (Owen Wilson) narrates "The Cycling Reporter" epilogue. Sazerac opens with "Ennui rises suddenly on a Monday", Ennui does quite literally come to life instantaneously and is a playfully comical moment with the timing of the visual pun.
A drain pipe emits a gushing of water (acting like a starting pistol in a 100m sprint event), then suddenly a myriad of characters enter the frame from different levels and angles, moving about with purpose and urgency, imbuing the scene with movement and life. A woman opens her window shutters, a baker opens his boulangerie, another woman bangs her dusty carpet from an upper floor window, an older gentleman lights up his tobacco pipe, and a disheveled chimney sweep walks up the pavement.
Yeoman uses long, lateral tracking shots, as with the scene in "The Private Dining Room of the Police Commissioner" when Wright intently paces through the long, empty halls and compact, bustling rooms of the Ennui Police Headquarters. Dolly tracking provides a fixed focus on the character as they move laterally. Long one shots give the impression of one continous motion, maintaining the flow of momentum.
Anderson employs symmetry, as with the establishing still shot of The French Dispatch building. The building is perfectly centered in the frame, its vertical geometry and strict alignment instills balance and symmetry. Symmetry is also implemented in a host of other flat, symmetrical backgrounds.
Yeoman utilises whip pans in a whimsical manner. In "The Concrete Masterpiece", Yeoman uses whip pans to exaggerate the amusing exchange of disagreement between Rosenthaler and Cadazio whether or not art's intrinsic purpose is to be sold. The short, snappy utterances of dialogue between the characters makes for a swift and witty interchange.
Anderson creates meticulously organised flat lays, such as with the birdseye-view, close-up shot of Arthur Howitzer's (Bill Murray) "pins, placques, and official citations of the highest order". These flat lays have a satisfying aesthetic and accentuates the 'staged' feel to the film.
The motionless stills are intricately designed to mimic freeze frames. They illustrate comedic mishaps like in "The Concrete Masterpiece" with the abrupt brawl between the violent prisoners and pompous art curators. Freeze frames act like concise summaries of a scenario and trims them down into a digestable morsel of context.
The majority of the footage in The French Dispatch is filmed in black and white. Colour is used sparingly to punctuate moments of significance; like with the first anticipated reveal of Rosenthal's vibrant painting or when the Mysterious Women's (Saoirse Ronan) striking ice blue eyes are drawn into the centre of the frame. Yeoman also decides to capture specific moments in colour to create a visual distinction between past and present events.
Bigger f.stop numbers are used when filming (f/11), decreasing the aperture, therefore less light reaches the sensor, creating a greater depth of field in the shot. The result is a sharper background, attracting attention to the subject in the foreground as well as objects in the background.
David Bordwell coined the term 'planimetric composition' meaning the orientations of elements of the scene; especially the background, are flat plains relative to the camera. Anderson frames people against a perpendicular background like a police line-up. Directors typically tend to avoid using planimetric composition as it looks constructed and self-conscious. Alongside Anderson's aesthetic preferences for symmetry and meticulously arranged flat lays, planimetric composition complements Anderson's immaculate vision.
The dialogue is either verbose and eloquent, or laconic and whimsical; perhaps to the point of digression in some areas, disclosing information that it not necessary for the audience to know.
There is little profound and meaningful dialogue due to the sheer amount of exposition delivered by the narrators. This somewhat drives character arc development to a stagnant halt. There is little to no pauses or breaks present inbetween the end of one character's utterance and the beginning of another character's utterance. This implements fluidity but eschews realism, making the dialogue feel 'too scripted' or 'too staged'. Anderson disregards realism and dilineates active storytelling.
The French Dispatch is a dizzying anthology of many intersecting teeny tiny parts. The French Dispatch is relentless, barely pausing for reflection, speedily zipping through events whilst leaving little time to breath. Its whimsy is matched by its eccentricity. Anderson chooses to stray away from developing characters and instead fixates on the unfolding of events. The French Dispatch is hard to explain and even harder to deconstruct, however it is entertaining to watch.
By Lucas Barker, Minor in Media Studies, and an avid cinephile. 28/4/22
Comments