Wes Anderson has sounded his pastel blue ceramic klaxon and summoned his kitsch cabal of off-beat Avengers for his 10th feature, The French Dispatch. There's Wilson, Brody, Schwartzman, Murray, Dafoe and Waltz. He's also added Timothée Chalamet and, because Chalamet is in it, Saoirse Ronan, along with Benicio Del Toro, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and Lea Seydoux. A veritable who's who of stilted dialogue and fourth wall-breaking talent.
I have watched the trailer twice and I have absolutely no idea what is going on, but I do know two things: a) this is most definitely a Wes Anderson film and b) we can already include TFD (does that work?) in the grand, corduroy-clad pantheon of very stylish Wes Anderson films. Perhaps the most stylish since The Royal Tenenbaums.
According to its production company, Searchlight, "The film is a love letter to journalists set in an outpost of an American newspaper in a fictional 20th century French city and brings to life a collection of stories published in ‘The French Dispatch’ magazine." It would have been more contemporaneous if Owen Wilson played a stressed-out content creator trying his best to pivot to video, but he does look very cool as a swashbuckling photo journalist in a beret and mismatched socks. I wonder if he has an expenses account?
From the two-or-so minutes we've been shown there is already a cocksure Adrien Brody in a lovely-looking slate grey double-breasted suit, Chalamet in some heavy tweeds and soft knits (and naked in the bath), Bill Murray, playing his best disgruntled editor, in lemon shirting and brown waistcoat, and a lot of great ties. Not to mention Owen Wilson making a single-handed plea for the beret to be worn by men who are not French.
Anderson's previous film, 2018's Isle of Dogs, wasn't much of a clothes film (Atari's space suit aside) as the majority of the cast were, well, they were dogs. Before that, 2014's The Grand Budapest Hotel – despite being full of impressive costumes – didn't have much in the way of relatable style inspiration (Jude Law's array of vintage trench coats a notable exception). So it's good to see Wes return to what he does best: forcing his actor mates to wear clothes that he could well have just grabbed from his personal wardrobe.
We'll have to wait until July to get our full quaint retro tailoring fix, but from the looks of things we've already got a winner for the year's most stylish film.
If you're into high-waisted trousers, melton wool and lots of earthy shades, that is.
