The Life Aquatic Reflection

Wes Anderson's "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zussou" is an incredibly charming film. It does its best to stay in the grey area between serious and comical. Which in the end just creates really funny moments and inappropriate times. The world creation is very whimsical but in a borderline cheesy sense. However, that just feeds into the films sense of humor. The cinematography fits the whimsical world very well along with the awkward comedy.

The overall comedy relies on the films tone. None of the characters view what they're doing as funny. Matter of fact, the movie is literally life and death for them at times. The dialog between characters can be dry and without emotion, yet they're in a goofy yellow room so you kind of just giggle. One part that I found summed up the comedy of this film was the scene where the group goes to rescue the bond agent from a band of pirates. Zussou finds his rival Hennesey captured in a room full of at least 20 pirates with guns. So, he just runs in there with a pistol and somehow makes it out with Hennessey, who seems fine despite being shot in the chest from three feet away. The scene makes almost no logical or realistic sense at all. Yet, that is what makes it funny. It is so stupid it works.

That seems to be the theme of the world of The Life Aquatic as well. Sometimes the world seems so strange it takes a little to adjust to it. For instance, the boat they use looks as if it is made out of cardboard and all the wildlife is in the form of cartoons. It seems cheap and cheesy, but it just feeds into the inappropriate humor of the movie.

The cinematography of the movie is where Wes Anderson really lays down his stamp. There are endless amounts of his signature centered shots and whip pans. To me, what Anderson uses to enhance the film the most is the use of fisheye follow shots. He uses it a lot while following characters through the ship, exposing that the boat is just a movie set. Again, while breaking the 4th wall is something that is often avoided in movies, but it just fits so well here.

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