Video essay about books in Wes Anderson films

You always know when you're watching a Wes Anderson film. Family is at the center of every story the 46-year-old director chooses to tell, and his movies typically adhere to a color palette, that is highly saturated. I always notice the tracking shots and his profound love of symmetry in all of his shot compositions, but I never noticed that books appear frequently throughout his films, until Luis Azevedo of The A To Z Review pointed it out:

"In the work of Wes Anderson, books and art in general have a strong connection with memory. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) begins with a homonymous book, as does Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009). The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) begins and ends with a book. Moonrise Kingdom (2012) ends with a painting of a place which no longer exists. These movies have a clear message: books preserve stories, for they exist within them and live on through them."

[h/t: Open Culture]

Comments

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