The World of Wes Anderson

Michael Specter in The Wall Street Journal:

There aren't many directors one can identify simply by looking at a brief clip of his or her work. Alfred Hitchcock comes to mind; so do Michelangelo Antonioni and Jean-Luc Godard. Their films, constructed wholly on their own terms, create singular, unmistakable worlds. In America today, there is at least one director who does this too: Wes Anderson.  

Whether Anderson is telling the story of a family struggling with ghosts of its past and future (The Royal Tenenbaums, The Darjeeling Limited), portraying the absurdist adventures of a Cousteau-like adventurer (The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou), or, as in his new film, Moonrise Kingdom, presenting a tale of twisted innocence, his work is impossible to mistake. His signature is apparent even in commercials—from his classic self-parody for American Express to recent ads for the Korean automobile company Hyundai. Anderson doesn't pander or create market-tested characters; nor does he see the point in cleaning up reality. (Warping it is a different story.)

My favorite Wes Anderson films are The Royal Tenenbaums:



and The Darjeeling Limited:



I'm still excited to see Moonrise Kingdom!