Movie Review - The French Dispatch

Director: Wes Anderson
Genre: Drama/ Comedy
Runtime: 108 minutes
Year: 2021
Starring: Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Léa Seydoux, Timothée Chalamet, Christoph Waltz, Saoirse Ronan, Jeffrey Writgh, Anjelica Huston, Adrien Brody, Edward Norton, Willem Dafoe, Tilda Swinton, Elisabeth moss, Benicio Del Toro, Rupert Friend, Frances McDormand, Liev Schreiber, Henry Winkler, Jason Schwartzman, Mathieu Amalric, Bob Balaban

Description: A love letter to journalists set in an outpost of an American newspaper in a fictional twentieth century French city that brings to life a collection of stories published in “The French Dispatch Magazine”.

Review: Wes Anderson’s exuberant cinematic world I immediately recognizable to any film lover. With symmetrical compositions, use of color palettes, and ensemble of top actors and extremely detailed sets, Anderson brings somewhat melancholy stories to life in a comical way. This is no different in “The French Dispatch”, with the difference that with even more detail is has become an extremely enjoyable maze of stories and sets. With his latest film, Wes Anderson manages to make at least three full-length feature films in less than two hours. “The French Dispatch” contains an unprecedented wealth of references, styles, locations, details and fun.
With his new film, Anderson simultaneously pays tribute to The New Yorker magazine and his hometown of Paris. In the fictional town of Ennui-sur-Blasé, the editorial staff of The French Dispatch magazine is followed. The film takes the structure of one of the magazine’s issues and the delves into several stories. This magazine contains and obituary, a travel story, and three longer main articles. These articles tell of a student uprising, a painter in prison, and a culinary reviewer who goes to a police station to taste chef Nescaffier’s food.
In “The Grand Budapest Hotel”, Wes Anderson already worked successfully with frame narratives. Once again, the various narrative perspectives flow freely through each other. Yet the whole remains an extremely coherent story. Scenes follow one another at a fast pace, without ever running out of steam. All of these different storylines are also full of humor and extremely interesting stylistic choices.
Everything seems possible again in Anderson’s world. For example, there is a chase scene that takes place entirely in an animation style. In “The Grand Budapest Hotel” there was already a chase made in stop-motion. This break in style does not detract from the film at all. This animation is yet another fantastically thought-out ingredient in this mishmash of influences and styles.  
Wes Anderson not only creates a labyrinth with a multitude of styles and storylines. The sets are also more of a maze than ever. When culinary reporter Roebucj Wright arrives at the police station, it consist of an incredible number of rooms. The camera follows Roebuck through all these rooms with their own identity. In half a minute countless details pass by.
“The French Dispatch” is a declaration of love to cinema from which the passion for the medium shines. It contains everything that makes film such a fantastic art form: complex storylines, a unique visual style and a constant play with light, color, movement and sound. “The French Dispatch” is yet another highlight in Wes Anderson’s already impressive oeuvre and an outstanding form of cinema.

Rating: 4,5/ 5