Moot Thoughts & Musings

For New Year's Eve, we saved some of our Christmas money from the vortex of bills and the Cost of Christmas to go out on a date. We went to a matinee of The Life Aquatic of Steve Zissou and then went for dinner at our favorite Lebanese place. A wonderful evening.

I LOVED Life Aquatic!!!! I keep wanting to say something about it, but then not , because I don't really know how to do it justice. So I'll just say a few things that I liked about it.

I personally liked the adventurous aspect this film had compared to Anderson's others. I've loved all his films, but sometimes at the end of them I feel like I'm sitting in a room that smells of stale smoke (which is fine in that particular context), whereas with Life Aquatic I felt like I had spent a day in the sunshine of the Mediterranean. (so what am I? susceptible?) Maybe it just felt fresher. The adventures were fun. They played into the childhood fascination that some of the characters (and, by extension, indicative of many children all over the world) had of Steve--he is a man of adventure.

But the moments in the adventures that went awry (leeches, anyone?) affirm the moments of humanity that are so indicative in Andersons films--the idea that even these eccentric characters in unusual, extraordinary circumstances are human beings with regular longings, desires, hurts, and emotions. Like Steve tells Ned at the beginning when he invites him along, "We're all a bunch of strays." And the Bond Company Stooge shortly thereafter implores, "I'm a human being." And then, if you think about, perhaps the circumstances aren't so extraordinary after all. If I was an oceanographer living on a boat, I might have similar experiences. There's also the pressure of being the "expert" and making new discoveries and frustration at the other guy who seems to get all the grant money. That is perfectly viable situation.

Chris and I were talking about it afterwards, and we both agreed that one of our favorite aspects of Anderson's style is how carefully he sets up a frame and then will linger and enjoy it. (Perhaps there is a technical term for this?) The scene where Steve is telling Jane that Cousteau invented the microphones so that they could talk to eachother underwater, but he added the rabbit ear so that they could listen to music, too. The frame, beautifully composed, pauses while Steve dances to the music inside his head. That is why we like Anderson films.

I also liked the animated creatures. They could've used real sea-life, but I like the animated life. I liked how they filmed the boat cross-sectioned like a dollhouse. And the whole component of the interns totally cracked me up!

I also liked how in the end, Steve is saved for the next generation of child admirers.

So there's my not-so-professional run-down of Life Aquatic. I just loved it! I want to see it again.