The Phoenician Scheme

My relationship with Mr. Anderson took a hit after his last two movies. He's a fantastic director, but they were misses. I brushed off watching this for the longest time because I thought it'd be more of the same. But he returns confidently with an unpinned grenade in hand, as if to say, 'trust me, I'll put the pin back in when you agree it's good!'. The opening scene starts, and - POW - time to put your phone away. (Spoiler: the pin was put back in.)

The film is about Zsa-zsa Korda, who tries to stake his fortune on a risky scheme to overhaul the infrastructure of Phoenicia, a "lost" civilization, with slave labour. The unethical millionaire businessman, survivor of six plane crashes and multiple assassination attempts, father of nine sons and one daughter, and enemy to governments globally, attempts to swindle investors into paying for the project. Zsa-zsa tackles challenge after challenge while exploring the odd relationship with his only daughter Sister Liesl.

In a reflection from one of the characters, they say that 'what matters is the sincerity of your devotion'. Asteroid City and The French Dispatch were simulacra of Wes Anderson. They didn't feel sincere in their craft compared to The Phoenician Scheme. They were the Epic Theatre we expected from Wes Anderson but burnt-out, like HR scheduling mandatory fun hours. Anderson says, 'making films is like hoping for the right accident', and that hope transpired in The Phoenician Scheme. It doesn't rely on a template of his own Wes-isms. Although, the Critics Consensus of Rotten Tomatoes puts it this way: 'The Phoenician Scheme doesn't deviate from Wes Anderson's increasingly ornate style but delivers the formula with mannered delicacy.'.

This film is much less ruthless in its symmetry and rigid direction, and has one of my favourite ensembles! Benicio del Toro, Michael Cera, and Mia Threapleton are class together. I felt that the simple addition of Threapleton's British English accent juxtaposed the artificial acting we are used to in Anderson films. In previous movies, the use of flat American pitches got stale very quickly, so her cadence was a nice disruption. Anderson says that he was swift in casting her for her authenticity.

The Phoenician Scheme still contains the iconic camera angles and surreal set pieces of previous works. It felt better received, maybe because 'some thrive in tranquil simplicity'. Scenes like the basketball bit could have been plucked out as their own short. It was a lot of fun to watch comedic relief giants Bryan Cranston and Tom Hanks at work. The simplicity can be accredited to the cinematography too. It was shot by Bruno Delbonnel, who was responsible for Amélie, one of my favourites.

As for my relationship with Mr. Anderson now - 'Myself, I feel very safe'.