Wes Anderson’s 2021 film The French Dispatch is a stylish tribute to journalists covering the making of the final issue of the “French Dispatch Magazine”.
The film follows five journalists and their perspective stories. The first story is a cycling tour of the fictional French town, Ennui-sur-Blasé. The second, “The Concrete Masterpiece” is a story about the famed French modern artist, Moses Rosenthaler, played by Benicio Del Toro, who also happens to be a convicted murderer painting from prison.
The third story, “Revisions to a Manifesto” follows the student revolution happening at the local university. The idealistic students fight for their respective freedoms by writing manifestos and playing chess through barricades with police. The fourth piece is about the most accomplished French chef, Nescaffier, cooking for the police chief and his force as they search for the chief’s kidnapped son. The magazine’s final section, “Obituary” covers the sudden death of the editor of the French Dispatch.
Each of the journalists covering these stories are inspired by real writers such as James Baldwin, Mavis Gallant, and Rosamond Bernier. Learning this made the film much more poignant for me along with it’s humor. The vignettes are intimate portraits into the lives and struggles of these real people.
I appreciate the technical precision and attention to detail in Anderson’s signature stylization; the actors stand in stiff, highly posed shots making minute movements perfectly on cue. While the stylization adds to the film’s tone and story, I did find it often distracted from the actual story being told. Most of the time I was dazzled by the devices Anderson was using to tell the story than the actual events and themes behind the narrative.
Despite these critiques, I found The French Dispatch to be a charming film dedicated to the ever important, sometimes ridiculous, work of the writer.