Wes Anderson Biography

Wesley Wales Anderson (born May 1, 1969, in Houston, Texas) is an American writer, producer, and director of films and commercials. He attended St. John's School, a private school in Houston, which was later used as a filming location for Rushmore. Anderson then studied philosophy at the University of Texas, where he met future collaborator Owen Wilson.

Anderson cites his influences as including in particular French New Wave directors such as François Truffaut and Louis Malle, with whom his films share vivid characterization and a tragicomic sensibility: Anderson's works are considered comedies, though many critics find that they appeal to a particular, acquired sense of humor.
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Common among all of Anderson's films is the absence of major villains: his characters may be misguided and might cause others pain, but are always without malice. The lack of traditional antagonists prompts Anderson's characters to interact with each other in a more intimate fashion, locating their problems within themselves and their beloved friends or family rather than in enemies to be defeated.

Anderson's more recent films, notably The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), have a pageant-like feel. The camera remains stationary in many instances in order to bring greater focus upon the settings, which are often vibrantly-colored and detailed. Anderson increasingly incorporates elements of theater into his films, such as the plays and scene cues in Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums or the elaborate sets of The Life Aquatic. Anderson's pictures are complemented by the work of composer (and Devo singer) Mark Mothersbaugh, who wrote instrumental tracks for Bottle Rocket (1996), Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, and The Life Aquatic. Actor and musician Seu Jorge also contributed to the soundtrack for The Life Aquatic with live acoustic renditions of David Bowie songs in Portuguese.

In part because Anderson's movies focus on interpersonal struggles and lack traditional antagonists, they tend to feature the themes of grace, forgiveness, and reconciliation. No one—not even a washout like Herman Blume or Steve Zissou (Bill Murray in Rushmore and The Life Aquatic) nor a deceitful schmuck like Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman in The Royal Tenenbaums)—is beyond redemption. Anderson's characters are separated by a variety of barriers, but the barriers are gradually overcome as individuals recognize the flaws and true desires in themselves and others. Typically, an Anderson film ends with several different narrative threads being resolved, relationships being restored, and things both trivial and significant being brought back to their rightful places.

Each Anderson film involves some characters in uniforms or jumpsuits, such as Ben Stiller's character Chas and his two sons in The Royal Tenenbaums.
Each film ends in slow-motion.
Each film features an underwater shot, and the number of characters underwater increases with each film. For example, in his second film, Rushmore, Bill Murray and an extra are shown in a swimming pool. In his third film, The Royal Tenenbaums, Gene Hackman and the two sons of Ben Stiller's character are shown underwater in a swimming pool. In his fourth film, The Life Aquatic, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, and two Zissou crew members are shown underwater, investigating a rogue tracking signal.
Anderson also has a fondness for the font "Futura" [1], which is used in virtually all of his films.
Each Anderson film includes a sequence with the same drum solo music. In Bottle Rocket, the music is heard during a robbery. In Rushmore, the solo is heard while an aquarium is being built on a baseball field. In The Royal Tenenbaums, the solo is heard when Ben Stiller's character is chasing Owen Wilson during a wedding. In The Life Aquatic, the solo is heard while Team Zissou raids Captain Hennessey's research laboratory.

Anderson has created each of his films with many of the same actors and other crew. Actor Owen Wilson co-wrote Wes Anderson's first three films and has appeared in major roles in three of Anderson's films (he briefly appears twice in Rushmore: first as a go-kart driver, and later as "Edward Appleby" in a framed picture). Actors Bill Murray, Kumar Pallana, his son Dipak Pallana, Stephen Dignan, Andrew Wilson (the "third" Wilson brother, after Luke and Owen), Luke Wilson, Brian Tenenbaum, Eric Chase Anderson (Wes' brother), and Seymour Cassel have each appeared in three. Anjelica Huston has appeared in two. Jason Schwartzman has appeared in only one Anderson film, though he was rumored to have been the first choice for a role in Life Aquatic, yet he was unavailable. (It is widely believed that Schwartzman has a cameo in The Royal Tenenbaums as the announcer of a tennis match, though Anderson reveals in the film's commentary that it's his own voice.) Schwartzman is also rumored to have a role in the upcoming adaptation of Roald Dahl's book, Fantastic Mr. Fox.

The Pallanas, Seymour Cassel, Brian Tenenbaum, Stephen Dignan, Eric Anderson, and Andrew Wilson often have smaller yet still important roles. Mark Mothersbaugh (as mentioned above) has been involved in the scoring of most Anderson films, and Eric Anderson has been involved in set design for several of the films. Writer Noah Bambauch has also been involved with the creative process for many of the films.

Cinematographer Robert Yeoman, A.S.C., has photographed each of Wes Anderson's feature films as well as several Anderson commericals, lending to the continuity of style and "feel" among these works. In particular, Anderson and Yeoman employ a technique sometimes referred to as "compression of space" (popularized by Roman Polanski): whereas a typical feature film production will use several different types (i.e. lengths) of lenses within a particular scene, Yeoman uses one type/size of lens for each shot within a scene. The Anderson/Yeoman collaborations tend to employ one single type of lens for the majority of a given film.

WES ANDERSON PICTURES

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WES ANDERSON BIOGRAPHY