Very often, when I’m watching a movie with Elias, I’m actually watching him—studying his face to see what he’s seeing and how he might be seeing it. It’s mostly hyperbole, of course, because he’s only two years old, but I like to think that I can tell when he’s actually studying a movie. There are things that he watches and enjoys, like Yo Gabba Gabba, and then there are the bits of media that he’s rapturous about, like Marry Poppins. He quotes from the latter, and sings some of the songs, so I know it’s making a serious impact.
When we watched Fantastic Mr. Fox the other morning, his face took on a new hue. He was paying good attention but also appeared a bit flummoxed. This seemed appropriate. Working with a cast of small figurines on miniature sets, Wes Anderson’s obsessive attention to detail gets to flood every conceivable nook and cranny of the film to superb effect. Even though Mr. Fox isn’t as emotionally resonant as his other films, this picture is Anderson unbound.
I’ve been a stop-animation lover ever since seeing the Cosgrove Hall version of Wind in the Willows as a young boy. The sheer patience involved in the project still amazes me, as does the way the whole project comes to life in a very singular way. My ardor was only buttressed by the enigmatic works of Ray Harryhausen, but nothing I’ve seen has matched their ethereal quality of Wind in the Willows. There was really no other fantasy world I wanted to inhabit quite as much as that of Rat, Mole Toad, and Badger. Turns out Anderson consulted with Ian MacKinnon and Peter Saunders, the animators who worked on Wind in the Willows years ago.
No surprise then that there’s so much to love here. From the philosophical discussions of trying to curtail wild animal behavior to the way these impeccably dressed animals devour their food, the way the picture addresses the lapses in logic of anthropomorphism are clever with out being outwardly heady. The set design and costuming are utterly complete though the animation is purposefully rough. The tracking shots are unreal and the music is, well, a Wes Anderson soundtrack. I don’t think I’ve been as caught up by a Rolling Stones song in a movie since “Jumping Jack Flash ” greased the bar scene in Mean Streets. Here, “Street Fighting Man” accompanies the bloodthirsty trio of farmers as they use tractors to try and uproot the Fox family. Due to their shared affinity for tracking shots and great music alone, it seems totally natural that Martin Scorsese nominated Anderson as his successor.
More than any other directors that are coming to mind at the moment, these two grab a song and brand the hell out of it. I can’t listen to “These Days” without thinking of Margot Tenenbaum even though I knew the song before I saw the movie. Similarly, I can’t hear phase two of “Layla” without picturing a montage of gangland killings. That’s something.
Funny, also, how this clip of the openingt minute of Scorsese’s first feature film, Who’s That Knocking at my Door has a madcap energy similar to Anderson’s debut, Bottle Rocket.
The nut here is that I’m already hugely moved by the experience of sharing film with my older son. It’s enthralling in a way I could have never imagined. When both of my boys are older I like to imagine we’ll have recurring movie marathons. Today’s double feature, Wind in the Willows and Fantastic Mr. Fox. Tomorrow’s: Mean Streets and Rushmore.
