The new working statement: How has Wes Anderson developed as an auteur and is he now a
mainstream figure in the film industry?
Films:
Item 1- The Grand
Budapest Hotel (2014)
I chose this as my focus film because it is Anderson’s most
recent piece of work, so shows his style at its most developed stage. By far it
is his most commercially successful film, making $174.6 million at the box
office and winning 146 awards including 4 Oscars and for the first time, he was
nominated for an Oscar for ‘Best Achievement in Directing’, highlighting his
significant progress as a film-maker.
Item 2- Bottle
Rocket (1996)
This was Wes Anderson’s first feature film and there is a
huge difference between this and The Grand Budapest Hotel. It didn’t gain the
recognition it deserved and made only $560,069 in the box office after a budget
of $7 million. However, it began Anderson’s career after attracting positive
attention from critics and it stars actors such as Owen Wilson who has appeared
in all but one of Anderson’s films since.
Item 3- Fantastic
Mr. Fox (2009)
This film marked a significant change in Anderson’s work
because it was his first stop-motion animation and first adaptation from a novel.
Critically, it was very successful, receiving 47 awards as well as Oscar,
Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations. However, although it made $46.4 million in
the box office (after a $40 million budget), it was overrun by more mainstream
films such as ‘Up’ and ‘New Moon’ due to them being released at the same time.
Item 4- Moonrise
Kingdom (2012)
Moonrise Kingdom was a huge success and it was nominated for
an Academy Award for the Best Original Screenplay. It grossed $68,263,166 in
the box office, making it Anderson’s third most financially successful film
after The Royal Tenenbaums and The Grand Budapest Hotel. It can be said to
follow mainstream/Hollywood conventions as the protagonists, Sam and Suzi are
goal driven and the plot builds towards a crisis which is then resolved.
The Internet:
This is very useful as it breaks down the reasons as to why
The Grand Budapest Hotel has attracted a more mainstream audience in comparison
to Anderson’s previous films, covering topics such as: cinematography, actors
and character development. There are constant references to Anderson’s other
films, marking the differences and similarities between them which proves that
he has developed as an auteur since Bottle Rocket and grown to draw in wider
audiences.
These are some very useful statistics which compare how much
each of Anderson’s films grossed in the box office, including the domestic and
overseas percentages. With exceptions to ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’, there is a
positive correlation with the production dates of Anderson’s films and the
amount they grossed worldwide, indicating the increase in his success rates.
Also, The Grand Budapest Hotel has the highest overseas percentage of 66.2%,
highlighting his more globalised audience which could be a big turning point
for him.
This is a very good piece of research because it is a
detailed outline on how Wes Anderson has broken through as a more mainstream
film-maker. It highlights that the Royal Tenenbaums was Andersons
‘breakthrough’ film which allowed him to gain much larger budgets for his next
films and from here onwards, his build-up and pathway to Oscar winning, The
Grand Budapest Hotel is clearly visible.
This is an informative breakdown of Anderson’s work from
‘Bottle Rocket’ to ‘The Darjeeling Limited’. The author, Derek Hill writes
about Anderson’s change and improvement of character development, narrative and
the technical/visual style between these films. He also talks about the
differences in their critical and commercial factors and how this has led
Anderson on to have mainstream success.
This is a useful page because it makes a lot of comparisons
between the work of Wes Anderson and it addresses key information regarding the
progression of his films. What I found most significant on this website was the
section titled ‘awards and nominations’ because it illustrates that his latest
films have won more awards than his earlier films and Anderson’s huge
progressions as a film-maker are clearly highlighted in this.
Interviews:
This interview focuses on Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Grand
Budapest Hotel. Anderson discusses how much he learnt from making Fantastic Mr.
Fox in terms of planning, framing and editing and how he brought these new
skills into his most recent films, Moonrise Kingdom and Grand Budapest. This is
significant because it illustrates the impact that each of his films will have
on the next, proving that he is constantly adapting and improving.
Books:
Item 11- Matt
Zoller Seitz: The Wes Anderson Collection
(2013)
This book provides a lot of beneficial information because
Matt Zoller Seitz has written detailed word essays on each of Anderson’s films,
disregarding The Grand Budapest Hotel, and there are also embedded interviews
with Anderson for each one. Many comparisons are made between the films,
especially regarding what impacts they have had on each other and these essays
are broken down with images, showing a progression in Anderson’s
cinematography.
Item 12-
Item- 13
Rejected items:
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