Wes Anderson
Wes Anderson | |
|---|---|
 Anderson in Berlin, 2005 | |
| Born | Wesley Wales Anderson May 1, 1969 |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Westchester High School St. John's School |
| Alma mater | University of Texas at Austin |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, screenwriter, film producer, actor |
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Parent(s) | Melver Anderson (father, deceased) Texas Anderson (mother, deceased) |
Wesley Wales "Wes" Anderson (born May 1, 1969) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer of features, short films and commercials. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for The Royal Tenenbaums in 2001 and Moonrise Kingdom in 2012, and for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for Fantastic Mr. Fox in 2009. His films employ similar aesthetics, using a deliberate, methodical cinematography, featuring a mostly muted and saturated color palette. His soundtracks feature folk and early rock music, in particular classic British rock. Anderson's films combine dry humor with poignant portrayals of flawed characters – often a mix of the wealthy and the working class. He is also known for working with many of the same actors and crew on varying projects.
Early life
Wesley Wales Anderson was born on May 1, 1969, in Houston, Texas[5][6][7][8][9] His father, Melver Anderson, ran an advertising and public relations company, and his mother, Texas Anderson, was an archaeologist who later became a real estate agent. Anderson grew up with his two brothers, Eric and Mel, but their parents divorced when Anderson was eight. Anderson would later describe the divorce as "the most crucial event of my brothers' and my growing up." This situation gave him the premise for The Royal Tenenbaums's story.[10] As a child, the young Anderson directed many Super 8 movies starring himself and his brothers. Anderson is the great-grandson of Edgar Rice Burroughs[11]
He went to Westchester High School and St. John's School, a private school in Houston featured in Anderson's film Rushmore. After graduating from St. John's, Anderson attended the University of Texas at Austin. There he met Owen Wilson, who became an essential writing partner and cast member in Anderson's filmography. Anderson and Wilson met during a playwriting class and became roommates. Then they worked on a script for a full-length movie called Bottle Rocket. Anderson earned his B.A. in philosophy in 1991 and released the short film version of Bottle Rocket in 1992.[12]
Film career
Anderson's first film, 1996’s Bottle Rocket, was a crime caper focused on a group of young Texans aspiring to achieve major heists.[13] While the film did not do well commercially, it was critically acclaimed, with Martin Scorsese naming Bottle Rocket one of his favorite films of the 1990s.[14] Anderson’s next film, Rushmore, a quirky comedy about a high school student's crush on an elementary school teacher, was produced on a larger scale and was released to critical acclaim. Its success helped to both launch the career of Anderson as well as to popularize star Bill Murray as an independent cinema actor.[13] Murray has since appeared in every Anderson film to date. In 2000, filmmaker Martin Scorsese praised Bottle Rocket and Rushmore in an Esquire magazine article about Anderson.[15]
The Royal Tenenbaums, Anderson’s next comedy-drama film about a successful artistic New York City family and its ostracized patriarch, represented Anderson's greatest success until Moonrise Kingdom in 2012. Earning more than $50 million in domestic box office receipts, the film was nominated for an Academy Award and ranked by an Empire poll as the 159th greatest film ever made.[16]
Anderson's next feature, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, about a Jacques Cousteau-esque documentary filmmaker played by Murray, serves as a classic example of Anderson's style but its critical reception was less favorable than his previous films and its box office did not match the heights of The Royal Tenenbaums.[17] In September 2006, following the disappointing commercial and critical reception of The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Steely Dan's Walter Becker and Donald Fagen released a tongue-in-cheek "letter of intervention" of Anderson's artistic "malaise." Proclaiming themselves to be fans of "World Cinema" and Anderson in particular, they offered Anderson their soundtrack services for his The Darjeeling Limited, including lyrics for a title track.[18]
Anderson's next film, Darjeeling Limited, about three emotionally distant brothers traveling together on a train in India, reflected the more dramatic tone of The Royal Tennenbaums but faced similar criticisms to The Life Aquatic. Anderson has acknowledged that he went to India to film the 2007 movie, partly as a tribute to the legendary Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray, whose "films have also inspired all my other movies in different ways" (the film is dedicated to him).[19] The films starred Anderson staples Jason Schwartzman and Owen Wilson in addition to Adrien Brody and the script was co-written by Anderson, Schwartzman and Roman Coppola.[20]
In 2008, Wes Anderson was hired to write the screenplay of the American adaptation of My Best Friend, a French film, for producer Brian Grazer, Anderson's first draft was titled "The Rosenthaler Suite".
Anderson's stop-motion animation adaptation of the Roald Dahl book Fantastic Mr. Fox was released in 2009. Although the film did not earn much more than its production budget, the film was highly praised and nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Following the critical success of Fantastic Mr. Fox, Anderson made perhaps his best received film to date, Moonrise Kingdom, which opened the Cannes Film Festival 2012.[21]
Wes Anderson's next film will be entitled The Grand Budapest Hotel and will star Ralph Fiennes, Jude Law, and Saoirse Ronan, along with his regular collaborators Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, and Jason Schwartzman. Anderson has stated that it will take place in Europe in the late 1920s.[22] and that it will follow the troubles and tribulations of Mr. Gustave, who serves as the hotel's perfectly composed concierge.[23] Wes Anderson has launched the acting careers of Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, Matthew Gray Gubler, and Jason Schwartzman.
Personal Life
Wes Anderson is dating Lebanese writer and voice actress Juman Malouf. Not much is known about his private life, and the rumors circulating on the web that he was secretly married have neither been confirmed nor denied yet. [24]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Director | Producer | Writer | Actor | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Bottle Rocket | Yes | Yes | Short film co-written with Owen Wilson | |||
| 1996 | Bottle Rocket | Yes | Yes | Co-written with Owen Wilson | |||
| 1998 | Rushmore | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Groundbreaking Construction Worker | Co-written with Owen Wilson |
| 2001 | The Royal Tenenbaums | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Tennis Match Commentator #1 | Co-written with Owen Wilson |
| 2004 | The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou | Yes | Yes | Yes | Co-written with Noah Baumbach | ||
| 2005 | The Squid and the Whale | Yes | Co-produced with Peter Newman, Charlie Corwin & Clara Markowicz | ||||
| 2007 | Hotel Chevalier | Yes | Yes | Short film, created as a prologue to The Darjeeling Limited | |||
| 2007 | The Darjeeling Limited | Yes | Yes | Yes | Co-written with Jason Schwartzman & Roman Coppola | ||
| 2009 | Fantastic Mr. Fox | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Weasel | Co-written with Noah Baumbach |
| 2012 | Moonrise Kingdom | Yes | Yes | Yes | Co-written with Roman Coppola[25] | ||
| 2014 | The Grand Budapest Hotel | Yes | Yes | Yes | Written by Wes Anderson | ||
| 2014 | She's Funny That Way | Yes | Co-produced with Noah Baumbach |
Critical acclaim
Five of Anderson's seven films have received critical acclaim, with his most well-reviewed being Moonrise Kingdom, with 94% of approval from critics at the Rotten Tomatoes website.
| Film | Rotten Tomatoes | IMDB |
|---|---|---|
| Overall | ||
| Bottle Rocket (1996) | 80%[26] | 7.1[27] |
| Rushmore (1998) | 87%[28] | 7.7[29] |
| The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) | 80%[30] | 7.6[31] |
| The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) | 53%[32] | 7.2[33] |
| The Darjeeling Limited (2007) | 67%[34] | 7.1[35] |
| Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) | 93%[36] | 7.8[37] |
| Moonrise Kingdom (2012) | 94%[38] | 7.9[39] |
Recurring collaborators
Anderson's films feature many of the same actors, crew members, and other collaborators, including the Wilson brothers (Owen, Luke, and Andrew), Bill Murray,[40] Willem Dafoe, Seymour Cassel, Anjelica Huston, Jason Schwartzman, Kumar Pallana and son Dipak Pallana, Stephen Dignan and Brian Tenenbaum, and Eric Chase Anderson (Anderson's brother). Other frequent collaborators include writer Noah Baumbach (who co-wrote The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and Fantastic Mr. Fox, with Anderson co-producing his film The Squid and the Whale), Owen Wilson (who co-wrote three of Anderson's feature films), cinematographer Robert Yeoman (A.S.C.), music supervisor Randall Poster, and composer Mark Mothersbaugh.
| Collaborator | Bottle Rocket (1996) |
Rushmore (1998) |
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) |
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) |
The Darjeeling Limited (2007) |
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) |
Moonrise Kingdom (2012) |
The Grand Budapest Hotel[41] (2014) |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waris Ahluwalia |  |
|
2 | ||||||
| Eric Chase Anderson | |
|
|
|
|
|
6 | ||
| Bob Balaban | |
|
2 | ||||||
| Noah Baumbach | |
|
2 | ||||||
| Adrien Brody | |
|
|
3 | |||||
| Seymour Cassel | |
|
|
3 | |||||
| Roman Coppola | |
|
|
|
4 | ||||
| Brian Cox | |
|
2 | ||||||
| Alexandre Desplat | |
|
|
3 | |||||
| Stephen Dignan | |
|
|
3 | |||||
| Willem Dafoe | |
|
|
3 | |||||
| Michael Gambon | |
|
2 | ||||||
| Jeff Goldblum | |
|
2 | ||||||
| Anjelica Huston | |
|
|
3 | |||||
| Harvey Keitel | |
|
2 | ||||||
| Bill Murray | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
7 | |
| Mark Mothersbaugh | |
|
|
|
|
4 | |||
| Edward Norton | |
|
2 | ||||||
| Dipak Pallana | |
|
|
3 | |||||
| Kumar Pallana | |
|
|
|
4 | ||||
| Larry Pine | |
|
2 | ||||||
| Jason Schwartzman | |
|
|
|
|
5 | |||
| Tilda Swinton | |
|
2 | ||||||
| Brian Tenenbaum | |
|
|
3 | |||||
| Andrew Wilson | |
|
|
3 | |||||
| Luke Wilson | |
|
|
3 | |||||
| Owen Wilson | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
7 | |
| Wallace Wolodarsky | |
|
|
3 |
Awards and nominations
References
- ^ Name (required) (2007-10-28). "a review of wes anderson's the darjeeling limited « second floor". Floortwo.wordpress.com. Retrieved 2012-12-26.
- ^ Matt Zoller Seitz - The Substance of Style, Pt 3. Examining the Wes Anderson–Hal Ashby connection - Moving Image Source
- ^ Matt Zoller Seitz - The Substance of Style, Pt 3. Examining the Wes Anderson–Hal Ashby connection: - Slant Magazine, posted April 6, 2009.
- ^ "Moonrise Kingdom' Director Wes Anderson on 'Stealing' From Kubrick, Polanski". hollywoodreporter. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
- ^ medieval archaeology
- ^ "Wes Anderson". IMDB. 2010.
- ^ "Wes Anderson". Film Reference. 2010.
- ^ "Wes Anderson". Yahoo Movies. 2010.
- ^ "Wes Anderson returns to form with Mr Fox". Times London. 2009.
- ^ biography.com
- ^ http://articles.latimes.com/1993-11-07/entertainment/ca-54065_1_bottle-rocket
- ^ "Wes Anderson Biography". IMDb. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
- ^ a b "Bottle Rocket". iMDB. Retrieved 2012-07-05. Cite error: The named reference "iMDB" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ "Wes Anderson". Esquire. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
- ^ Scorsese, Martin (2000). "Wes Anderson". Esquire. Retrieved 2011-07-31.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ "EMPIRE's 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time". EMPIRE. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
- ^ "Wes is having trouble with the reception". SCREEN Machine. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
- ^ Becker, Walter (2006). "Attention Wes Anderson". Steely Dan. Retrieved 2007-08-22.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ "On Ray's Trail". The Statesman. Archived from the original on 2008-01-03. Retrieved 2007-10-19.
- ^ "Wilson & Anderson reminisce over a cup of Darjeeling". Production Weekly. 2006. Retrieved 2007-08-22.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) [dead link] - ^ "Wes Anderson". Los Angeles Times. 2012-03-08. Retrieved 2012-05-20.
- ^ Eisenberg, Eric. "Wes Anderson Says The Grand Budapest Hotel Is Mostly Set In The Late 1920s". Cinema Blend. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2278388/?ref_=sr_1
- ^ http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/movies/2012/06/moonrise-kingdom-wes-anderson.html
- ^ IMDb
- ^ "Bottle Rocket". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2012-12-26.
- ^ "Bottle Rocket (1996) - IMDb". Uk.imdb.com. Retrieved 2012-12-26.
- ^ "Rushmore". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2012-12-26.
- ^ "Rushmore (1998) - IMDb". Uk.imdb.com. Retrieved 2012-12-26.
- ^ "The Royal Tenenbaums". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2012-12-26.
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0265666/
- ^ "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2012-12-26.
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0362270/
- ^ "The Darjeeling Limited". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2012-12-26.
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0838221/
- ^ "Fantastic Mr. Fox". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2012-12-26.
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0432283/
- ^ "Moonrise Kingdom". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2012-12-26.
- ^ "Moonrise Kingdom (2012)". IMDb. Retrieved 2012-12-26.
- ^ "5 Signs You're Watching a Wes Anderson Movie". OMGList. 2008-03-25. Retrieved 2009-10-17.
- ^ Hollywood Reporter
Bibliography
- A Negative Assessment of Anderson's Work By Prof. Ray Carney
- Special Issue: Wes Anderson & Co. New Review of Film and Television Studies, Volume 10, Issue 1 (2012). ISSN 1740-0309.
- Browning, Mark (2011). Wes Anderson : why his movies matter. Praeger: Santa Barbara, Calif. ISBN 1598843524.
External links
- Wes Anderson at Unsung Films
- Wes Anderson at AllMovie
- Wes Anderson at IMDb
- Tête-à-Tête with Nic Harcourt at Los Angeles Times Magazine
- "Into The Deep", in-depth Anderson profile at The Guardian 12 February 2005
- "Wes Anderson", brief profile by Martin Scorsese. Esquire.
- Interview with Wes Anderson for The Darjeeling Limited at Ioncinema.com
- Wes Anderson Interview on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos (Video)
- "Notes on Quirky" Movie: A Journal of Film Criticism, No.1, 2010
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