To quote McDormand: it's just fireworks.
The lede's I glanced at all say this is Anderson at his most Anderson. That is a rather hasty take, only accurate if one reduces Anderson to his visual style. Many elements are unusual for him.
Firstly, the triptych structure, and any technique whose result is short-form storytelling in general, shares with its truncated products the obvious inconvenience that it may titillate without moving.
We all know (surely) that exposure to characters will, ceteris paribus, increase our interest in their fate. This interest can then be worked upon by the filmmaker to produce an emotional response. A three-hour film can more easily build up the emotional energy for true pathos at the climax. Good luck finding a 3 minute short that can wring a tear from an audience (Tampopo has one such gem in the 'mother' scene.)
I am suddenly struck by the fact that I am pontificating without compensation on IMDB, a website whose erstwhile respectable film leaderboard is being taken over by every sufficiently marketed superhero flick. Let me save us all some time.
Imagine the mannerisms and quaintness of Budapest Hotel intensified, with much less character development, storytelling, and pathos. The acting can be uneven, and the editing has a few uncharacteristic slips from someone whose latest films get most of their wit from all-world timing.
The end of the third story has the sole poignant sequence in the film. One has come to expect more than one in a Wes film.
TL;DR: This is a brilliant Art Director's fever dream. Go see it if you like Anderson, or if you're dead-set on watching American cinema. Otherwise, life is likely too short.
The lede's I glanced at all say this is Anderson at his most Anderson. That is a rather hasty take, only accurate if one reduces Anderson to his visual style. Many elements are unusual for him.
Firstly, the triptych structure, and any technique whose result is short-form storytelling in general, shares with its truncated products the obvious inconvenience that it may titillate without moving.
We all know (surely) that exposure to characters will, ceteris paribus, increase our interest in their fate. This interest can then be worked upon by the filmmaker to produce an emotional response. A three-hour film can more easily build up the emotional energy for true pathos at the climax. Good luck finding a 3 minute short that can wring a tear from an audience (Tampopo has one such gem in the 'mother' scene.)
I am suddenly struck by the fact that I am pontificating without compensation on IMDB, a website whose erstwhile respectable film leaderboard is being taken over by every sufficiently marketed superhero flick. Let me save us all some time.
Imagine the mannerisms and quaintness of Budapest Hotel intensified, with much less character development, storytelling, and pathos. The acting can be uneven, and the editing has a few uncharacteristic slips from someone whose latest films get most of their wit from all-world timing.
The end of the third story has the sole poignant sequence in the film. One has come to expect more than one in a Wes film.
TL;DR: This is a brilliant Art Director's fever dream. Go see it if you like Anderson, or if you're dead-set on watching American cinema. Otherwise, life is likely too short.
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