Wes Anderson

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Wes Anderson is a critically acclaimed American art director whose distinctive style has made him a well-recognized auteur. His films include Bottle Rocket (1996), Rushmore (1998), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), The Darjeeling Limited (2007), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), Moonrise Kingdom (2012) and, The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014). The stylistic and themal connections across his work makes his films distinguishable and iconic. With a recurring cast of actors, a meticulous attention to details, a recognizable colour palette, and a distinctive cinematography consisting of overhead shots, symmetrically framed shots, and tracking shots, Anderson’s quirky films have allowed him to carve a niche in the film making…show more content…
In this scene, Richie Tenenbaum, who is in love with his adopted sister Margot, attempts to kill himself, after he discovers Margot’s relationships, including the one with his best friend Eli Cash. The warm, red tones are replaced with cold, blue tones. This makes the scene immediately and strikingly different visually. The bathroom is bathed in blue, giving the audience a feeling of coldness, depression and isolation. Before, the red, orange hues convey a light heartedness, giving the audience a warm feeling, creating a sense of safety, optimism in the film. When Anderson suddenly and deliberately changes his colour palette to blue, it becomes disconcerting to the audience; there is an eerines. The audience’s sense of safety is broken, and replaced with feelings of fear and worry for Richie because they are suddenly taken from warm colours to depressing, subdued tones. Richie’s suicide scene is shocking and disturbing. Hence Anderson’s use of colour palette is significant as it effectively heightens the tragedy of the scene, amplifying Richie’s anguish and despair. The colour palette is successful as the overall ‘blueness’ of the scene creates a sad mood. It ties in well with the scene’s ideas of depression, self harm and suicide. Blue is often associated with sadness, and so Anderson deliberately bathes the scene in cold, blue tones. Anderson’s colour palette allows the audience to…show more content…
Throughout the film, the colors are typical of Anderson. It is warm, evoking a period setting of 1960s. Both Moonrise Kingdom and The Royal Tenenbaums use colours to evoke the sense of time. The 60s and 70s uses warmer, richer colours evident in both films. The muted colours gives a sense of reminescence of the past. In Moonrise Kingdom, Anderson uses a lot of muted yellow, vintage green, red and pink tones. Through the colour palette, Anderson creates the island of New Penzance. The colours define the island, giving it a hazy summer feel. The distinct colour palette is successful in making New Penzance seems like a living character. Similarly in The Royal Tenenbaums, the colour palette brings the Tenenbaum’s house to life. This is a trend in all Anderson’s films: his use of colour palette allows his settings, like a school in Rushmore and a hotel in The Grand Budapest Hotel to come alive, becoming character

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