by Liam Trump ’24

After a nearly eight year-long hiatus from live action films, director Wes Anderson is back with The French Dispatch. Starring the likes of Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Owen Wilson, Timothée Chalamet, and many more, Anderson weaves together an anthology that only he could dream up.

Chronicling the final days of the fictional Ennui-sur-Blasé based newspaper called The French Dispatch, the film tells of three separate stories which are all featured in the publication. Each story embodies Anderson’s signature style to some extent, but differs from each other in what themes take center stage. All of them eventually lead up to The French Dispatch’s staff coming together to write one final obituary to honor and conclude the journalistic legacy of the founder of The French Dispatch, Arthur Howitzer Jr..

The first story tells of an imprisoned Moses Rosenthale, portrayed by Benicio del Toro, as he creates modern art in prison with the help of his lover/prison guard, Simone (Léa Seydoux). This story highlights how bombastic the artistic process can truly become. After the first story concludes, Lucinda Krementz, played by Francis McDormand, has her article brought into the film. Her story focuses on Timothée Chalamet’s character, Zeffirelli, as he takes part in Parisian protests. The final article, which was passed off as a food story, is about a kidnapping case where a chef plays a major role in the article’s conclusion. In all of these stories, Howitzer’s recurring line of “Just try to make it sound like you wrote it that way on purpose” is evident as these articles, while informative to a degree of their own, are made memorable by how each reporter influences the sequence of events they have to cover.

The French Dispatch is not only a celebration of journalism, but it puts on full display how wonderfully the art of filmmaking can bring a story to life. From the color palette to the miniatures to the 2D animation, the presentation constantly one-ups itself as the anthology plays out.

It’s a true marvel that after 25 years of making movies such as The Grand Budapest Hotel, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and Rushmore, Anderson is still able to churn out unique stories that encapsulate absurdism so well. The French Dispatch is the perfect film for fans of Anderson, but even for people who aren’t familiar with his filmography.

Grade: A