The French Dispatch

Even if you’re not vibing with the story or the comedy, you can still like it just because Wes Anderson’s trademark visuals are so much fun to watch. I interpret the film as being about [spoiler] glorification and mythologization. It’s about how storytelling can often hide certain parts about people we perceive as important heroes from the past. Whether that’s their mental problems and pretentious character (Benicio del Toro’s painter), arrogance and support on the sidelines (Timothee Chalamet’s student) or just sensationalizing in general (the final story) [/spoiler]. I liked it a lot and was entertained all the way through. It’s very creative and quirky, the acting is fantastic, the characters are very well drawn and the comedy hit for me. Didn’t quite get all of Wes’ choices though (he likes to switch between aspect ratios and colour/b&w photography for … reasons), which is a problem I have with a lot of his work. Sometimes he makes these forced creative choices just to be odd and hook the audience, without there being a real motivation behind it. Still, definitely a must watch for any film fan. 8/10