Wes Anderson: An Epilogue

Eli Price (00:39.838)
Hello and welcome to the establishing shot a podcast where we do deep dives into directors and their filmographies I am excited today to be on Here with you on episode 14 of the show Our 14th ever show which is also the wrap-up of our Wes Anderson series our first ever series on the show And yeah

This is really kind of a bittersweet episode for me personally. I was excited to jump into this podcast, get things going, and to have my beginning, our start, our kickoff to this Endeavor B with Wes Anderson has just been a real delight and really exciting and fun for me.

And yeah, so it's kind of bittersweet. It's bitter because I'm leaving Wes Anderson and all of his movies behind and moving forward. But it's also exciting because I, you know, wrapping up my first series on this podcast with you, my listeners so far. And thank you so much for listening, for tuning in to.

Listen to me talk. I'm not some movie scholar I'm just sort of a guy who really loves movies and really loves digging into what makes movies tick and so Maybe you're like me and just love movies and thinking about them and digging into what makes them work So just thank you so much for tuning in for listening to the show I'd like to

just start off by asking you, you faithful listeners, to our 14 episodes so far to take some time after you listen to this episode to go on Apple Podcasts and leave a quick review. Even if you don't really listen on Apple Podcasts, it's just super helpful if you go on there and leave a little rating and a review. Helps the visibility of the podcast a ton.

Eli Price (03:00.538)
And then on Spotify it really helps if you go and leave a star rating too, even if you don't listen on Spotify Just go in and leave me a little star rating I think you have to like listen to an episode I think you can just kind of scrub through an episode on Spotify before you you're allowed to rate it But that would just be a huge help to me. It just takes a minute of your time And so that would be super helpful

And I like to share the reviews when the reviews come in, so I'll give you a shout out on social media and in the next episode. And so yeah, I just really appreciate it. And then if you've been enjoying the show so far, please consider supporting the show. I have an option through Supercast to have some paid...

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Eli Price (05:06.079)
cough

Eli Price (05:18.378)
Yeah, just, you know, leave those reviews and ratings on Spotify and Apple. And if you really love the show and have a little bit of extra monthly money, um, maybe, um, you're, uh, winding, you're kind of cutting off some extra Starbucks coffees or wherever you get coffee, uh, just consider supporting the show, um, and I would, I would just greatly appreciate it. Um, it would mean the world to me. So, uh, but yeah, I.

Eli Price and this is the establishing shot and we are closing out our Wes Anderson series with a bit of an epilogue This is not going to be a long show You know, I'm sure if you are a faithful listener, you know that most of my shows Me and my guests follow tons of bunny trails talking about these films and Wes Anderson and Doing our movie drafts, which is so fun

And I don't have a guest today. I'm just going to share a few things that really through, I'm going to start off with sharing a few things to close out the Wes series, things that I've learned about Wes and his films specifically, some threads that run through all of his films. And then just maybe a thing or two about what I've just learned about this endeavor.

So far of watching through a filmography of a director from start to end and so That's what we've got on the docket for today, so I hope you enjoy it and Yeah, we're gonna jump right in so when I started this series. You know we started with an overview episode And we talked a lot in that episode

About Wes's background, but we spent a lot of time talking about his technique and his themes that we see throughout his films and You know after watching through all of his movies again, and then you know asteroid city for the first time his latest film Which I hope you enjoyed the episode last week on that There's been some things that have really stuck out to me about Wes Anderson and his films

Eli Price (07:41.614)
So one of the major things that I really have just seen and that we've talked about a lot throughout these episodes is just the fact that Wes seems to really care about his characters. You know, he's notorious for kind of pushing off the idea that a character is based on a single person or himself, you know, and that's fair.

Basis his characters off of a lot of different things ideas and people he's known multiple people, you know friends and family or whatever and But what sticks out is not so much Who his characters are or even necessarily what his characters are like? but more it's more to me the I Guess the detail that he puts into him

and where he takes his characters and always he ends up taking his characters to a place where they in some way or another learn to kind of love who they are and kind of come to terms with who they are and really other people too the other characters in these little worlds that Wes creates.

They always come to this point where they are more accepting of these other people that they're in these worlds with. These other characters. And so, and then the parallel to that is just what I've heard over and over again watching featurettes of these movies with the cast and the crew. And just these people talking about how much Wes, you know, loves them and what they bring to the table. How much he...

really spends time with them and bringing them together. And so Wes really cares about people, and that comes out in how much he cares about his characters. And his characters are also unique, and they have their own little quirks, and they're on flaws. All of his characters have such huge flaws in different ways.

Eli Price (10:04.054)
But what's really amazing to me, and really it brings a huge wave of grace into his films, is just the care that he has for his characters. He loves people and what make people unique, and that comes through in the way he treats his characters and where he takes his characters in his films.

you think about someone like Mr. Fox and Fantastic Mr. Fox and Royal Tenenbaum and the Royal Tenenbaum's characters like Max Fisher and Rushmore, Steve Zissou and the Life Aquatic. Even more recently, a character like Augie in Asteroid City or the actor that plays him.

in the movie. You think about all these characters, especially characters that are kind of the main character or a front and center character. They all have these huge flaws, but at the end of the movie, Wes cares about the characters so much that you end up in a place where you see their flaws, you see them for who they are, but you have this empathy and this grace for that character that you maybe didn't have when you started off.

And I just think that's a beautiful thing about his films and what he does for his characters. Yeah, that's one of my favorite things that I've seen about Wes and learned about Wes. And I think something that comes out of that too is less about his films, but more about the way he goes about making his films. Over and over again, I've run into interviews and...

with both Wes and his crew and cast. And they always talk about how intimate of an experience it is. They know when they show up, they're going to be staying with the cast and the crew altogether. They're going to have dinner together. They're going to show up to the set ready to go. They're not going off into trailers. They're not, you know,

Eli Price (12:22.638)
leaving when they show up, it's kind of like moviemaking camp, you know? Even Wes talked about in an interview, people breaking out guitars after dinner and singing songs and man, what that shows me is just how important it is to make art and create in community. Wes

creates these little worlds for his characters in his films, but he also creates these little intimate worlds on his sets and while he's shooting for his cast and crew. That to me is just an amazing thing. It's something that I personally don't hear a lot about a ton of directors. A lot of...

you know, well-known, well-accomplished directors, it feels like, you know, they're very like, let's get the job done, that sort of thing. And I think that's sort of changing a little bit. You start to see more and more directors being more personable, but Wes has been doing this for a while and I just love that idea of making art in community or creating in community, creating a space where people are comfortable,

They know that they can be who they are and that they'll be accepted for that and allow to within that space Be free to be creative to express in that Artistic way that they're made to express themselves and so that's just something that I love about Wes Anderson and Just the way he goes about making films just the

the making art and community and creating and community. And it's something that I think has inspired me to really like work on building a community in my life, to work on this podcast endeavor, to just keep moving forward and keep bringing on guests, returning and new guests and creating this community.

Eli Price (14:46.418)
of people that love to talk about movies and dig into movies and learn from them and learn with each other about movies. And then just that idea of creating in community, whether you're creating something like artistic or just creating relationships, that's something that I've taken away from this series.

on Wes Anderson. And yeah, I think one of the other big things that I really has stood out to me about Wes Anderson and his filmmaking is just...

Eli Price (15:32.906)
I guess this thread of reconciliation, you know, I talked already about how all of his characters have these flaws and sometimes they're minor, sometimes they're major flaws. Sometimes there's a lot of them, you know. You think about Steve Zisoo and that guy is all over the place. But there's these moments of reconciliation at the end of pretty much every Wes Anderson

Where you have these characters that are flawed. They're not just flawed in themselves, but they're flawed in the way they relate to each other. You have these moments like, you know, going back to all the way to Bottle Rocket, you know, where Dignan's in jail and they're visiting him. And they just have this moment where they've gone through this terrible experience with each other. And now, you know, they're...

They're talking like they're brothers and friends again. And they're kind of just accepting, you know, Dignan just like kind of screwed them over and over, but they know that about him and they still love him and accept him for who he is. You have that in Rushmore with Max at the party after his play and all the people he's been just dooping and using kind of reconciling with each other and with Max.

and accepting Max for who he is. You have that with Steve Zisu as they're approaching the jaguar shark and everyone sort of puts their hand on Zisu's shoulder as he's experiencing this moment of just deep emotional, whatever he's going through. And all these people that he's hurt in different ways are-

comforting him and it's this moment of reconciliation and And you just get that through throughout all of his movies and I think you know part of it's Reconciliation, but it's not something that the characters were necessarily seeking out they were You know they were going about their lives there's all kinds of brokenness going on between all these characters, but

Eli Price (17:59.798)
at the end of the day, somehow reconciliation finds them. Reconciliation comes to them, brings them back together, shows them their own flaws and helps them to see and empathize with the other characters in the movie. And that's just another way that Wes is so graceful with his characters is allowing them to have these moments of reconciliation where they can come to terms with who they are.

and also come to terms with each other and accepting each other and loving each other despite the flaws. And I think that really stands out in that line that we talked about from Asteroid City where Jason Schwartzman's character, well, he's Augie Steenbeck in the Asteroid City play.

But, you know, he steps out as the actor and has the conversation with Adrian Brody's director character and, you know, he tells, he's like, I don't get this play, I don't understand it still, I don't know if I'm playing this character right. And Adrian Brody tells him, well, the director, whatever the director's name is, tells him, you know, you're doing him right. You know, keep telling the story. You're...

You know, you're doing the character right because you're doing him and he, you know, it's your role. Um, and that's just a beautiful moment that kind of is just, it's a line that shows what Wes has always been doing throughout all of his movies, showing his characters through their story that he's telling, um, that they are doing, they are being who they're supposed to be. Um,

They are doing themselves right. Accept who you are, keep telling your story, keep moving forward, keep pushing forward. And I just love that about Wes Anderson's films. And I guess maybe the last thing that I wanted to point out is more in line with the techniques that Wes uses and the aesthetic he creates in his films.

Eli Price (20:22.838)
He has this, well, he is known for these symmetrical and very stylized ways that he makes his movies. This aesthetic that he has created, it's created TikTok trends where people are trying to recreate it. And it's very noticeable. It's very.

recognizable as Wes Anderson. And it's that aesthetic that is very storyboard-esque, dollhouse-esque, where he's creating these worlds that are kind of self-contained worlds, whether it's the Tenenbaum house, or whether it's Asteroid City, or the train in Darjeeling, the Darjeeling Limited train.

These little worlds that are kind of self-contained that his characters, you know, are in and experiencing the world in. But also it's this little world that you can, as a viewer, really kind of hold at arm's length and really like examine. It has so much detail and care put into it that you can, you know,

you can really experience this world removed from it. Some directors have a tendency to really try to push you into the world of the film, where you feel like you're in it. You're experiencing their emotions as they're experiencing them. You're experiencing this world they're in as the characters are. And Wes Anderson is kind of the opposite. He wants you to remove yourself, to know that you're watching.

story you're watching a film and then to hold that at arms like and examine it and not just examine it That's you know, that's not the angle. That's the tool he gives you this aesthetic is a tool So that you as the viewer can hold it out look at it examine it in detail and get to know These characters in a more intimate way

Eli Price (22:42.882)
perhaps than if you were to be shoved into their perspective and their world. And perhaps that is subjective in what works for you as a viewer of a film. For me, it just, it works to hold this world out, to examine it.

with Wes as he's showing it to you and showing you these characters acting within it. And then to, you know, subversively through you being able to hold it out here and look at it, to really get a sense of this small little intimate world, the characters and how they relate to each other, and then the empathy that you can build through that examination of this world and these characters in it.

I think everything about his aesthetic that he uses and creates is, you know, it works for that purpose. You know, he's not just making these worlds, these, you know, this quirky aesthetic just because he likes it, which is part of it. He likes making these worlds and he says that over and over. There's a purpose behind it. And I think that's part of it.

Is allowing you to experience a experience it in that way I Don't I don't know that I have a whole lot of other takeaways You know, we've talked about a lot of stuff that you can take away from Wes and his films but yeah, those are some of the things that I really just stood out to me that are just

threads throughout his whole filmography, stuff that's come up over and over again that I wanted to bring out. So yeah, I guess right now we will take a quick break. When we come back, I will give a quick thought about just what I've learned from this endeavor of going through this first series, this first director filmography.

Eli Price (25:03.246)
Give a quick thought about that and then I will be announcing our next series. So you want to stay tuned in? So you don't miss that you probably already guessed it from my tease from last week, but I'm going to officially announce it. So please stay tuned in to be able to hear that but I will be back in just a minute

Eli Price (26:14.434)
Hey, welcome back to the show. I am excited to be wrapping up this Wes Anderson series with you. I was thinking about not just what I took away from Wes specifically, but what I've just taken away that I'll be able to move forward with in this endeavor. And hopefully, you with me as we're kind of doing this epilogue episode.

and I think the really the main thing that Has stood out to me and that just I hope that we can take and move forward as we continue to go through the filmography of directors is just The great appreciation you can gain If you really dig into a director in their films you know Wes Anderson is a director that I have

Loved from the beginning from the first time I saw one of his films, you know, I really like Doug what he was doing with his work and You know, I have I had some films that I thought were a little lesser films in his filmography that through this work of Research and digging into these movies and talking about them so much

Um, really like even the ones that I thought were lesser. I've grown to just love even more Um, you know, I didn't dislike any of them coming in but uh, i've just grown to love these movies so much And I was thinking about why that is what is it about this endeavor that makes you appreciate? even the lesser movies of a director's filmography and I think it's just uh,

I think often in today's world, we have so much that is the spoon fed and given to you quickly and not just like fast food, but we're scrolling through social media, we're getting 30 second funny reels on Instagram or TikTok videos. We have just information so quick.

Eli Price (28:41.046)
at our fingertips and it's not so often that we really slow down. Even in the film world, you have so much content at your fingertips through streaming services and just ads and trailers and memes thrown at you on social media.

That it's not so often that we really slowed down and really appreciate and dig into and meditate on uh art Um, and that's what film is. It's it's art. It's not just something Uh to entertain That's a part of it, obviously Um, I mean it's a movie they're entertaining But it's art

And I really think what this endeavor has taught me is to, you know, moving forward of just appreciating and really like taking advantage of the opportunity to slow down with taking in content. Not just like watch a movie and move on to the next, but watch it.

Ask why things are happening in the way they are in the movie. Ask why it was made the way it was made. Dig into how it was made. You know, watch the interviews, research, and that slowing down and taking in this content at a slower pace, digging in, not just watching a Wes Anderson film, but, you know, just like, really like.

Diving into his films and who he is and why he does the things the way he does and then you know taking that movie by movie through their filmography I Just really think you're We are gaining so much by doing that by taking this artist and really You know, it's really what we're doing is studying. We we've just went through of

Eli Price (31:01.19)
a filmography where we have studied Wes Anderson. We've studied his films. We've studied who he is as a filmmaker and even a little bit as a person. And so I just think that endeavor of slowing down and not just taking in the content but studying it together is just so enriching.

Eli Price (31:31.186)
made for it's made to meditate on and to think on and to appreciate in new ways every time you watch it or when you talk about it with others and hear different perspectives. And I just hope that that's something that you've noticed if you've gone through this series with me. And I hope that as you move forward, maybe if you didn't realize that, that as we move forward,

and go to You know more directors our next director series that you'll really like take that time to Appreciate the arts and I think what we will all find If we do that is that even those films that maybe we don't like or don't like as much by a director Even those films even if we don't necessarily like them more

when we watch them going through a filmography like this, if we don't like them more, certainly we'll appreciate them more in the effort that went into it and be able to find those things about it that are beneficial and things that we appreciate creatively about them. And so, yeah, that idea of just slowing down the content intake,

and really like, you know, working your way through a director and their filmography, I think is just a great takeaway that I've had after this first series that I hope to really like, take that lesson from and not take for granted as I move forward into the next series. And speaking of the next series, I am going to go ahead.

and announce who we are going to be going through and studying, like I said, together in my next director series. I already have a new film studies notebook. I've talked about the little film studies notebooks that George Argyle or Argyle or however you say his name puts out on Amazon. Great little journal notebooks to...

Eli Price (33:57.75)
take notes in but I've already got mine for the next director I'm excited to start digging in and I am going to throw up a drum roll our next director is going to be Christopher Nolan you know Christopher Nolan is you know he's pretty well known as a director even more so than Wes Anderson

making films like the Dark Knight trilogy, Inception, Interstellar. He is in Oppenheimer coming out very recently in theaters and being a huge success. I am excited to dig into Christopher Nolan because Christopher Nolan for me,

Is one of the first directors that really started to make me love film. I remember I was in college And I watched the prestige with a friend and I was just blown away At just everything about the movie I Just loved it and it was one of those movies that for a long time was what I would say is my was my favorite movie you know that

question that people ask you and you have to have some answer to the prestige for a while was my answer for that and that was you know, just because of Christopher Nolan and the way he went about making his films and I'm really excited to To really dig into his filmography I've watched a lot of his films multiple times of four But I've never really dug into them like I've been talking about

in this way, dug into the behind the scenes and watched interviews with Nolan and stuff like that. So I'm super excited to dig into Christopher Nolan. If you're watching on YouTube, you can see my notebook here, my film studies notebook. It's going to get start getting filled with notes here pretty soon. And so I am excited to announce that. I will say this.

Eli Price (36:15.366)
I am not going to be doing starting that series next week. I'm going to do a short episode, just kind of talking about a few more films that I've seen from this year, 2023, that I've loved and want to recommend. And then maybe even taking a minute to look forward to the movies that are coming out this fall, things that I'm looking forward to.

And and hopefully putting some movies on your radar to look forward to as well So that's what you have to look forward to for next week's episode Which will be our 15th episode but You know after that Hopefully at some point we will get our West our we just finished Wes Anderson. So not Wes Anderson We will be saying our of watts Wes

And we will be picking up our Christopher Nolan series here soon. I am super excited pumped to start digging in got my Criterion collection disc of following his first film in the mail the other day And yeah, so I hope you are excited just as excited as I am to start this next series

I hope you study along with me and learn a lot and just have a good time talking about these movies I've had so much fun making this podcast Getting it off the ground Wes Anderson was such a fun and exciting choice for us to begin with and I hope you are looking forward to starting the Christopher Nolan series with me I'm looking forward to enjoying it with you

With guests I'll be having some new guests on for this next series, so I'm excited about that But yeah until then I Have been Eli price and this has been the establishing shot podcast. I will see you next time. Thank you