Next up is one of my husband's favorite films, and he has asked that I write an objective review with my honest reaction. Thank goodness he has good taste in films, because this one is a slam-dunk. If you've ever seen a Wes Anderson film before and enjoyed his weird, aesthetically glorious stories, I recommend you delve into The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Let's talk about it!
The Gist
Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) used to be a beloved nature documentarian, but his career is in decline and his right-hand man (Seymour Cassel) was just eaten by a mysterious sea creature. Accompanied by his maybe-son Ned (Owen Wilson), pregnant reporter Jane (Cate Blanchett), and misfit crew, Steve sets out to make one more documentary about this creature in order to regain some of his former glory. What follows is an avalanche of setbacks and strange events that constantly hinder Zissou's mission.
Check out the trailer to get a taste of this visual feast:
MPAA Rating: R
The Take
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (AKA The Life Aquatic) is not the Wes Anderson film I would put in front of a newbie viewer. It is chaotic, surreal, and at times disorienting with the abrupt interruptions and scene changes. It's a more advanced version of Wes Anderson's quirky storytelling that requires more attention to the small asides and packed layers of detail being portrayed on screen. But once you have an introduction to Anderson's storytelling, the chaos of this film lends to a funny and touching tale of a man, surrounded by the people who love him, who is desperate to return to the hero he used to be.
The awkward dialogue that feels stilted actually punctuates the scenes with humor while also lending tension to these moments - you can feel that Steve is going to lose his grip on sanity at any moment. One such humorous sequence involves a group of pirates who hijack the boat and take a hostage from the crew. It feels like a laborious scene as each crew member is tied and blindfolded, but the mounting hopelessness culminates in him ripping off his bonds, shouting at the pirates, and racing around the boat blasting at them with his Glock. It is a great payoff to a primarily hapless adventure, and there are a few other moments like this throughout the movie.
With as much as I enjoyed the film, you would think I would say that everyone needs to watch it, but in actuality I feel like not everyone is meant to see The Life Aquatic; at least, not at any given time. I also do not believe this is a movie that will resonate with the hope-filled youth. Zissou's journey is bogged down with a sense of fear in failing at one's dreams, and losing grip on the glory and success from years past. In the opening sequence, his fatigue at being a failure is front and center, and the quality of his latest documentary exhibits his decreasing success in his chosen field. His first encounter with Ned gives him a spark of hope that there can be someone in his life who is not disappointed in who he has become, and he clings to that feeling for most of the film. That kind of world-weariness comes with age, which I feel makes it more impactful to the older adults who have had this crisis of self or desperation to reclaim old glory.
I would consider The Life Aquatic to be a surprisingly dense film; so much of the story is happening in the characters' history, or in a snippet of dialogue said offhand several scenes earlier and brewing under the surface since then. It feels like there are a million small moments happening off-screen that are influencing the story in front of us. It's that feeling of walking into a room where two people are having a heated discussion throughout the story; you can feel all of the things that aren't being said out loud, but nonetheless are affecting the people in front of you. Steve and Eleanor's (Anjelica Huston) entire marriage is portrayed in this way; they are barely on screen together, but you can feel their history and complicated feelings for each other.
This story is about glory and self-doubt, but ultimately it is a story about connections. Steve navigates a complex connection with Ned, the man who may be his long-lost son and the one person who may be proud of him, while Ned explores a connection with Jane, the pregnant reporter trying to complete her work and reconcile a complicated connection with the father of her child. It is about the crew's connections with Steve, through the many pitfalls and setbacks of making their own films, and their continuous dedication and loyalty to a man who may or may not deserve it. It's about nature's connection to man, and its inability to bend to the whims of one crew. The overlapping connections that grow and change throughout the story are fascinating to watch; you could probably reveal even more complexity by focusing on a different crew member each time you watch the film. Steve's antics and showboating are fake, but the relationships everyone has with one another feel so real.
I would be remiss to review a Wes Anderson film without talking about the aesthetics. The color palette is gorgeous with its yellows and blues, punctuated by the bright red of the silly beanies. The wardrobe is iconic (I found myself several times wanting to don a Zissou uniform as my next Halloween costume) and the palette is relaxing in a way the story is not. I also got a kick out of the Belafonte set, which is constructed like a dollhouse and lends to some humorous visual gags. It lets you become familiar with the absurd layout of the ship and glimpse the rest of the crew in their myriad tasks while keeping up with the main story.
There is so much more I could say about this movie, and every time I take a look at quotes or photos I find myself noticing more connections between scenes and jokes that finally clicked. It's one of those films that appears weird at first, but once you sit with it for a while - or watch it again, something I highly recommend - you see the brilliance start to unfold. I wouldn't call it an accessible movie, or one to watch when you want to chill and scroll on your phone for a while, but if you want to watch a piece of art play out on your screen, I highly recommend it.
Rating: 8.5/10
Memorable Moments
"Did it seem fake when my best friend was bitten in half right in front of me then eaten alive, screaming? I think you're a fake. And I think you're a phony, and a bad reporter. How does that feel?"
"Wolodarsky, go get the keys to that fishing boat, and throw them in the water. No, wait. They might have another set. Just blow it up."
The payoff of the jaguar shark is such a touching moment.
Try It If...
You have ever felt like you aren't measuring up to who you used to be.
You like Anderson's weird stories and awkward humor.
You want to see one of Bill Murray's best performances.
Avoid It If...
You need a straightforward narrative structure.
You have always had a youthful optimism for yourself.
The ocean terrifies you.
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is available to stream on Hulu.