The Life Aquatic is a 2004 film directed by Wes Anderson starring Bill Murray as the main character, Steve Zissou. The movie showcases the journey as Zissou gathers up a team of researchers and crewmen to travel at sea with him in search of the shark that ate his best friend. The movie shows the everyday life of the men at sea, along with showing prominent themes of grief, revenge, and the struggles Zissou faces as he is middle aged. The movie is not meant to be a film that portrays the transcendental style, but due to its simplicity and overall plot development, it seems to fit nicely into that category of film. The way the movie shows the transcendental style is through its plot. A majority of the movie showcases the every day for Zissou, the things that are typical for him. This becomes shaky when he learns that he has a son, Ned Plimpton who is played by Owen Wilson, but the movie continues to show this typical norm and everyday for the character. The movie reaches its decisive action when Zissou finally encounters the shark face to face, as he is faced with a rush of emotion and even begins to start crying. This is a very important theme in the movie. The movie ends shortly after, as coming face to face with death has changed Zissou and in turn caused the arrogance in him to fade from his character. Zissou is the main character, a demanding, contradictory character who has just become aware that he is a father. He is a controlling man, although he can't control much of what is going on, but he tries to reassert autonomy of his life and in the end realizes that he can't. He's a comedic character, who is awkward and shown in a realistic manner. According to The Life Aquatic commentary by Roger Ebert, the movie seems to be basically a cartoon with actors, sort of an oversized storybook, where things are often comedic and do not seem realistic. This is not only shown in the characters, but through the clearly animated marine creatures shown throughout the film. Zissou acts tough and put together, but he has no control of anything in his life and he is deep down a very broken character. Ryan Reed states, "But beneath that hard exterior is a vulnerable child, and Murray balances that line expertly throughout, wringing out the pain in his hot-air balloon conversation with Ned and his petty bedside dismissal of Jane. At one point early in the film, Zissou and Ned share a glass of wine in an upscale restaurant, as a pair of onlookers whispers insults about the explorer. "People say when someone says something like that about you, it's because they're jealous," Zissou whimpers, in a crucial line. "But it still hurts."" Ned is Zissou's son, the second most important character in the film. Ned is sort of shy, and pretty dependant. Wilson portrays a very rough southern accent for Ned. Ned and his father are in a love triangle with Jane, a pregnant reporter who is following up on the adventure. Ned joins the journey with Zissou towards the beginning of the film, but ends up losing his life on the adventure. This loss is tough for Zissou. The film is shot in a wide format, with characters often shown dead center, which pins them to their environment and sets the location for almost all of the events. The wide format of the film showcases the intimacy of close ups, while making characters look almost nonexistent when they are shown far away. The ending of the film showcases Steve sitting outside the presentation of his film, with him making peace with the fact that he cannot control everything, and instead taking a step back and living in the present. Roger Ebert: https://vimeo.com/77368356 Ryan Reed: http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/reviews/a31608/the-life-aquatic-10-years-later/
0 Comments
|