157 The Royal Tenenbaums

[manicsounds]

Everytime I watch it I'm always irked by the fact he didn't get nominated for it. Especially when I'm reminded of the other nominees (Sean Penn in I Am Sam, wtf!?)

"Never go full retard" - Kirk Lazarus on how to get an Oscar.

[flyonthewall2983]

Touchstone never seemed to good at promoting their Oscar-bait well enough, I'm guessing Miramax hogged a lot of that space considering it was still with Disney at the time. Yeah, The Insider got nominated but it was a pretty quiet set of nominations.

[JonasEB]

Personally, I think Wes Anderson has far fewer problems with over-referentiality than many young directors. He's certainly managed to establish a distinctive and original personal style and, if anything, his problem is likely to be excessive self-referentiality.

This reminds me of Ozu a bit actually (I apologise for the blasphemy that is about to be typed beforehand). He referenced other filmmakers quite a bit in his early years (especially Lubitsch), but seemed to evolve his style into an "excessive self-referentiality" in his later years (reusing the same character names, similar story arcs, remarking on one film with another, etc). This could end up creating a timeless quality in Anderson's films, though his detractors might currently call this "self-conscious". I could probably think of a few more strong similarities between Anderson and Ozu... but I don't think this is the appropriate thread and I'm not trying to troll or anything.

It has been over seven years since the above exchange but I think it's well worth revisiting because I consider this quite a revelation, not at all blasphemy. I think comparing the two provides maybe the most useful re-contextualization of Ozu (if not for those here, than the larger film community, just for the somewhat surprising idea) and may help confirm the legitimacy of Wes Anderson's strengths.

Ozu and Anderson are both most often criticized for making gentle, rarefied, overly mannered films, which examine the same themes over and over (or..."making the same films over and over.") They both create highly formal & structured artificial worlds that are uniquely theirs and both to an idealized extent (always for Anderson, often for Ozu, especially the later films.) Reality might not be represented exactly as it is lived or performed or as it looks but both come to the truth of every day life by doing so in the way they have chosen. They favor ensemble casts, usually in a family/extended family context. Families in Anderson tend to be tenuous, a house of absolute individuals rather than a family, but they deeply wish to return to it anyway. Ozu's families struggle against disintegrating against social expectation and change, necessary, good or bad. There they differ but they both treasure the idea of a family. I find their compassion equal, they embrace all of their characters, their struggles, failures, and victories, hoping they can sort themselves out and reconnect. Failed or flawed patriarchs figure prominently in both mens' work, here two examples of lovable scoundrels; I can see Royal Tenenbaum's antics with his grandsons sitting comfortably next to Manbei Kohayagawa's game of hide and seek with his own (a double feature of Tenenbaums and The End of Summer - or, the more accurate and pertinent Autumn of the Kohayagawa Family - sounds pretty nice right about now.)

Anderson is growing in his own way - I particularly like his increasing facility with merging sound and image in Moonrise Kingodm à la Powell & Pressbuger (also among my favorites) - but I really see a strong affinity between his and Ozu's work. It goes a long way in clarifying why I admire Wes Anderson so much.

[Michael Kerpan]

Re-watched Moonrise Kingdom last weekend (this time with my whole crew along) -- we all loved it (and my enjoyment level did not diminish in the least). I have the RT Blu on hand -- so we may all watch this soon.

Never knew there was supposed to be an affinity between Wes Anderson and Ozu -- but I am open to the idea (once I see more than Moonrtse Kingdom).

[matrixschmatrix]

When watching Les Enfants Terribles the other day, I started noticing a strong connection with Anderson, particularly between that film and this one- a family of children locked into the thought processes and relationships of their childhoods, and whenever any outsider is brought in they pulled into the pattern rather than pulling the family member out of it. There is also the strongly incestuous atmosphere- though Tenenbaums seems far less horrified by the idea- and a persistent feeling that the family we see lives in a world apart, untouchable by everything outside their circle.

Indeed, I feel as though Enfants is something of a key to Anderson's cinema, though it lacks his sense of humor- it's about children who never fully change because they live in a dream world, where other things penetrate only insofar as they are effective elements to add into the dream. That's an element of every Anderson film from Bottle Rocket to Moonrise Kingdom- down to the way characters seem obsessively to recreate the space they lived in as children (and in some ways, Anderson's own childlike mapping out of space reflects this.) The sense of magic that I get from his movies is in part because of the self created alterity of his characters, and their unreal reactions to events- and that's absolutely consistent with Cocteau in general, and Enfants in particular.

[JonasEB]

Re-watched Moonrise Kingdom last weekend (this time with my whole crew along) -- we all loved it (and my enjoyment level did not diminish in the least). I have the RT Blu on hand -- so we may all watch this soon.

Never knew there was supposed to be an affinity between Wes Anderson and Ozu -- but I am open to the idea (once I see more than Moonrtse Kingdom).

Stylistically they're still very different but within the parameters they've set up for themselves, they adhere to them quite rigidly (but as far as similarity, along with the things Steven H. and Andre Jurieu mentioned, they both never use dissolves and fades, always favoring direct cuts, and some of their transitions have a similar flavor - I could see Wes Anderson appreciating the baseball game transition from An Autumn Afternoon for its dry humor and sleight of hand.)

I find I react to their films in the same way, I get a similar feeling from both. Their key connection is their blending of comedy and drama which is something very few filmmakers can do effectively. I doubt Anderson was actively influenced by Ozu, it's just happenstance and it might be an entirely personal connection on my part (I hope not.) A lot of people find the behavior in Anderson's films too alien, so it's something that needs to be acclimated to, but I can relate to the way the characters in The Royal Tenenbaums use symbols and highly specific actions and clearly demarcated space to fend off their problems. It's taken to extremes in how its represented but when you cut through it, I see Anderson's depiction of family is ultimately as true of his age as Ozu's was in his time and place (Anderson's depiction of family really is an inversion of Ozu's; Ozu's families face the tensions of being an individual within a highly ordered unit, Anderson's families attempt to cede some of the things that keep each individual within themselves so they can try to find some kind of comfort in a union that isn't strong. Preservation vs. building.)

Zedz' observation about Anderson's tendency towards self-referentiality has proven correct over the last seven years. It's something I have no problem with. Another post in the forum paraphrases something Glenn Kenny apparently said about Ozu - "Ozu's oeuvre is like a deep forest--they're as different and as alike as trees, and it's always great to have more to explore." Even if not all of his films reach the heights of a Rushmore or Tenenbaums or Moonrise Kingdom, if Wes Anderson could achieve something like that, it would be more than enough for me.

[flyonthewall2983]

I have to pipe in and comment on how well the new Blu looks as well. The colors really pop out (I didn't fully realize how important pink was in the color scheme until today).

[mfunk9786]

Watching the awesome X-Files episode "Bad Blood" reminded me - where has Luke Wilson gone from the Wes Anderson stable? I'm sure we'll never find out for sure, but was there a falling out there? In my opinion, his performance in The Royal Tenenbaums is the best that Anderson has ever been responsible for, which makes it all the more unfortunate that the two haven't worked together since then. Is there some rumor I just haven't heard about yet?

[flyonthewall2983]

What's sort of sad to me is that he's not been able to keep the kind of sustainable profile in Hollywood like his brother has. He hasn't exactly dropped off the face of the planet but the only really memorable stuff I can remember with him in it since Tenenbaums was Idiocracy and a supporting role in John Dahl's You Kill Me. I didn't see Enlightened but I thought it was cool that he at least had a role on a show that was well-respected (short-lived as it was though).

[cdnchris]

He was Kristen Wiig's husband in The Skeleton Twins, and I rather liked him in it. He plays a bit of a schmuck but since it's Luke Wilson he's a likeable schmuck, and there's one scene where his reaction broke my heart a little bit.

[Bando]

He was great in The Family Stone, even in an ensemble cast. He's sort of built a career out of bit parts and supporting roles. That being said, you're right, it's surprising he hasn't had a more substantial place in the Wes Anderson universe.

[mfunk9786]

I'm convinced that something like that doesn't just occur by accident but I would love to be proven wrong. Anderson cast him as the beating heart of two of his three films prior to him never even having a small part in one after that. And I seem to recall Luke Wilson saying he would really love to work with Anderson again in an interview around the time of Enlightened Season 2. It seems very evident to me that something's up there.

EDIT: Found the interview.

"And I always like working with Owen [Wilson] and Wes Anderson," he added. "There’s nothing we could do a sequel of, but it would be nice to put that whole gang back together."

[PfR73]

Having recently read that instead of the Van Morrison song that ends the film in the released version, Wes Anderson had wanted to use The Beach Boys' "Sloop John B," even going so far as to include it in some preview screenings. I thought it would be interesting to see how the film plays out using "Sloop John B," so I put together this video.

I must acknowledge that I am not the first person to have this idea. It was only after I finished editing the video, that I had the thought that I should check if anyone else had done this. There was a video someone else had already put on YouTube, but I'd already finished my edit and I think it's better than theirs, so I'm still putting it up.

[hearthesilence]

Actually it was an alternate take of the Beatles' "I'm Looking Through You". They used it at the NYFF, which Kenny recalls.

[PfR73]

Yeah, from what I'd read, the selection process started with "I'm Looking Through You," then moved to "Sloop John B," before ending up with "Everyone." I'd only ever seen "I'm Looking Through You" described as an alternate version, so I wasn't sure of the particular source, and frankly, I like "Sloop John B" better, so that was the one with which I decided to play around.

[mfunk9786]

You're killing me. Great work.

[Jeff]

I thought it would be interesting to see how the film plays out using "Sloop John B," so I put together this video.

Fantastic. I didn't think I could like the film any more than I already do, but man that works great.

[swo17]

The cut to the credits works brilliantly. I still think I prefer the Van Morrison though.

[hearthesilence]

It works very well, especially in capping the tombstone joke, but as it plays through, it winds up being an arch finale. I still prefer "Everyone" because it always seemed to embrace their collective eccentricities in a very warm fashion.

[flyonthewall2983]

I read he was interested in using all Beatles songs for the movie, which probably could have doubled the film's budget. It's my understanding that when Mad Men used "Tomorrow Never Knows" they paid 250 grand for it.

[Rupert Pupkin]

perhaps there's a kind of "sympathy" with the Wes Anderson's movie with the Lennon's estate. Perhaps Sean Lennon is really like Wes Anderson's world and they got some "special agreements" regarding John Lennon's songs.
Because, as far as I can remember John Lennon solo songs are very rare in movies and Wes Anderson got several John Lennon songs for his movie :

here - "Look At Me" - (it took me 1 minutes in theatre to figure out how they got this unreleased outtake, until I realized it already came out in Anthology 98 Lennon solo box set) - and of course the epic intro with Hey Jude is fantastic. This song was the perfect choice for the opening, and the editing of the whole intro sequence is great (all segments, from Margot Tennenbaum's early years, to the pathetic tennis match...)

But there's also "Oh Yoko" (the regular version from "Imagine LP") during in "Rushmore" and that was his second movie.

[Highway 61]

I'm glad that he didn't since The Beatles don't allow their versions to appear in films. Hearing Beatles covers in movies takes me right out of the film. The orchestral "Hey Jude" was an effective compromise and maybe the only time I've ever enjoyed a Beatles cover in a film.

Are Back to School and Ferris Bueller the only films to include an original Beatles recording in their soundtrack? They can't be, can they?

[Rupert Pupkin]

I'm glad that he didn't since The Beatles don't allow their versions to appear in films. Hearing Beatles covers in movies takes me right out of the film. The orchestral "Hey Jude" was an effective compromise and maybe the only time I've ever enjoyed a Beatles cover in a film.

Are Back to School and Ferris Bueller the only films to include an original Beatles recording in their soundtrack? They can't be, can they?

yes the orchestral version works better for "Hey Jude". I guess the price is the same when you request a cover rather than the original version but you can get a veto from Yoko Oh No when you asked the original one.
You have a Lennon solo song "Well Well Well" in Scorsese "The Departed".
In 1989 the original "Yer Blues" Beatles White Album was played over the radio in a famous scene in Eric Rochant "Un Monde Sans Pitié" (you can also hear Hippolyte Girardot humming and singing the song over the Beatles song but you can clearly hear the Beatles song).

[Lars Von Truffaut]

"Baby You're a Rich Man" in the end credits for The Social Network

[flyonthewall2983]

"Come Together" in A Bronx Tale