The French Dispatch (2021) - SPOILER-FREE Review
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Directed by: Wes Anderson
Written by: Wes Anderson
Starring: Benicio del Toro, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Léa Seydoux, Frances McDormand, Timothée Chalamet, Lyna Khoudri, Jeffrey Wright, Mathieu Amalric, Stephen Park, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson
Runtime: 107 min
Synopsis: A love letter to journalists set in an outpost of an American newspaper in a fictional 20th-century French city that brings to life a collection of stories published in "The French Dispatch."
"Style over substance". This particular sentence has been used and abused by critics all around the world. So much so that nowadays, it's not that easy to find a review where this criticism doesn't feel cliche or forced. Of all the directors currently working in Hollywood, Wes Anderson is undoubtedly one of the filmmakers who gets this comment the most. His unique quirks offer his movies such a distinct style that even a random moviegoer would probably be able to identify who's behind the whole thing.
From symmetrical compositions to static shots; from a limited color palette to flat space camera movements; from the always important score/soundtrack to the essential animated sequences; from Fantastic Mr. Fox to Isle of Dogs, it was The Grand Budapest Hotel who conquered the vast majority of critics and audiences alike, myself included. All of these attributes are present in The French Dispatch, so if you're not fond of this director, this film won't change your mind. However, it did negatively affect my overall positive opinion about his filmography.
Technically, Anderson delivers one of the most impressively flawless movies of the last few years. Even if I seriously wanted to find an issue with a technical department, I just couldn't. Adam Stockhausen's production design, Milena Canonero's costume design, Robert D. Yeoman's cinematography, Andrew Weisblum's editing, Alexandre Desplat's music, and every other section such as makeup and art direction… every single filmmaking component comes together to create a truly magnificent work. I must emphasize: a genuinely astonishing, perfectly-executed job from everyone involved.
Just the way that some scenes unravel is mind-blowing. At one moment, the screen is empty, with merely a static shot of some location. One second later, the noiseless image suddenly gets jammed full with people doing completely different things in every position of the screen. I constantly felt surprised by the craftsmanship behind the tracking shots that panned several rooms with people attempting the mannequin challenge. Unfortunately, the numerous quirks feel like the driving force of an otherwise uninteresting, hard-to-follow narrative.
The French Dispatch does feel like "style over substance". There's so much happening on the screen all the time that it becomes overwhelmingly complicated to even understand what the characters are saying and/or doing. In addition to this, the screenplay is just not worth investing in because there's no emotional thread to be found. Anderson was clear from the very beginning by saying that his film is an "ode to journalism". From that standpoint, it definitely is. The homage to journalists deserves praise, and the more I think about it through that perspective, the more I like the structure of the movie.
Nevertheless, I still feel totally detached from the two pillars of filmmaking: story and characters. The screenplay is basically divided into three stories without any connection between each other. All are reported by various journalists, starring another group of actors that could be an entire cast for any other film. These tales are going to be printed in the last issue of the newspaper. While this structure might sound pretty on paper, it devoids the viewers from attaching to a particular storyline with a clear purpose and aim.
Despite one of the most shockingly stacked casts of the last decade - remarkable actors like Elizabeth Moss, Edward Norton, Christoph Waltz, Saoirse Ronan, and Willem Dafoe don't even appear in the "starring" section - I struggled to connect or even care about a single character. The French Dispatch is packed with outstanding performances, but I didn't feel remotely invested in any of them. I felt like I was sitting at a theater watching a couple of short flicks based on random premises.
I also have to be fair and share a problem with my screening that most people won't have. In Portugal, all movies are subtitled with the respective Portuguese translation. As I grew up, I became comfortable with the English language to the point of not reading the subtitles anymore. I simply focus on the screen and watch/listen to the film, which drastically improved my experience - heavily relying on subtitles makes viewers miss some moments since they're always looking to the lower part of the screen, besides being harder to be fully immersed by the movie.
The French Dispatch has a considerable amount of French dialogue, which means the film itself already has English subtitles weirdly placed around the screen - another Anderson mannerism that only contributed to an even more difficult viewing. Sometimes, a character is speaking French, and another one is talking in English. This means the Portuguese subtitles would have to translate both sets of dialogues, despite one of them already being translated in English. Confusing? Exactly. Instead of just having the lower part of the screen filled with subtitles, I had 80% of the screen filled with subtitles typed in different fonts and languages.
It might be the first time that the existence of subtitles actually negatively impacted my viewing. I'm genuinely worried for every viewer who will have a subtitled screening because this movie presents the audience with the monumental task of trying to seamlessly follow the narrative. I do want to end on a positive note, so I'll praise the humorous writing. I often chuckled at some cleverly funny moments that kept pulling me back to the film.
Final Thoughts
The French Dispatch possesses all of Wes Anderson's trademark quirks, but this time, even hardcore fans of his unique style will struggle to not feel overwhelmed. Every filmmaking department shines in such an impressive manner that one could call this movie a "technical masterpiece" packed with fantastic performances across the board. Unfortunately, the cliche criticism "style over substance" fits this picture too well. The infinite amount of Anderson-ish quirks transforms the already uninteresting narrative with emotionally hollow characters into an extremely challenging, hard-to-follow story. In four simple words: it's just too much…
