This superb (and thorough) look at Wes Anderson‘s auteur influences was mentioned on the current episode of the Cinecast. The House Next Door founder, freelance writer and film director Matt Zoller Seitz narrates and edits a collection of side by side and annotated scenes from Wes Anderson’s filmography and connects the director’s aesthetic to Hal Ashby, Mike Nichols, Charles Schultz, Martin Scorsese, Orson Welles, François Truffaut and the written work of J.D. Salinger. High praise indeed, but the key here is that Anderson re-invents his influences into his own auteur stamp, one that has been imitated (From Napoleon Dynamite to Garden State), yet nevertheless remains instantly recognizable about the crowd.
The series: The Substance of Style, is in 5 parts, ending with a fully annotated playing of the sublime opening prologue of The Royal Tenenbaums.
The First Part is tucked under the seat.
This Wes Anderson Video Essay series isn’t ‘new’ but man it is good. I missed it back in March when it was original published:
In March and April 2009, Moving Image Source published a five-part series by Matt Zoller Seitz on Wes Anderson’s style and influences. On the occasion of Anderson’s new film, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, opening in New York and Los Angeles on November 13 and nationwide on November 25, we are reposting the entire series