The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (The Criterion Collection)
by Wes Anderson
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Actor: Anjelica Huston, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, Owen Wilson, Willem DafoeDirector: Wes Anderson
Brand: Miramax Home Entertainment
Writer: Wes Anderson
Producer: Barry Mendel
Producer: Dan Beers
Producer: Enzo Sisti
Producer: Rudd Simmons
Producer: Scott Rudin
Writer: Noah Baumbach
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language); German (Original Language); Icelandic (Original Language); Italian (Original Language); Portuguese (Original Language); Tagalog (Original Language)
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 119 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-05-10
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Miramax Home Entertainment
Product features:
- Internationally famous oceanographer Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) and his crew -- Team Zissou -- set sail on a expedition to hunt down the mysterious, elusive -- possibly nonexistent -- Jaguar Shark that killed Zissou's partner during the documentary filming of their latest adventure. They are joined on their voyage by a young airline co-pilot who may or may not be Zissou's son (Owen Wilson)
DVD Reviews of The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (The Criterion Collection)
DVD Review: Merci, Cedric. Remind me, we'll send him a red cap and a Speedo
Summary: 4 Stars
Writer/Director Wes Anderson goes for the Smart Laugh, not the Big Laugh. In fact, there were no big or small laughs throughout this flick. I didn't laugh out loud once--yet I was enthralled--laughing to myself, like Billy Idol, only laughing, not dancing, to myself.
This film is somewhat like an inside joke that is so inside that even your laughter is inside.
Steve Zissou: We were pretty good while we lasted, weren't we?
Oseary Drakoulias: Oh, we were like glory's gate, my darling. We were like that bloody shark of yours, we swam with the... oh, damn it, I had it on the plane.
Bill Murray as Steve Zissou really owned this movie. He was the flawed leader who can (usually) inspire his crew to follow them on the journey, the adventure, he was taking them on. He may not really know anything, he may be totally full of it--but still, he leads on. It is an adventure. Murray could convey so much with even his smallest throw away gesture.
Owen Wilson's character Ned Plimpton was a good and pure man of integrity--very different from his usual role. He also had what was supposed to be a Kentucky accent, but he's no Meryl Streep, nor is he a Will Patton, on whom the accent was based. He tried something different, and for that he is to be commended--but he was somewhat the fish out of water, in comparison to Murray, who was made to play Steve Zissou, or vice versa. Steve Zissou was written with Bill Murray in mind and according to Wes Anderson, it "could have been no one else." Anjelica Huston, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Cate Blanchett, Bud Cort, even Matthew Gray Gubler--all added a lot.
The film is a parody of the Undersea World of Jaques Cousteau, not just the oceanic exploration documentaries, but the whole preposterous idea of the Life Aquatic, the idea of doing scientific research while also making a film of it, and using the film to gain funding. While Jauques Cousteau's ship is called Calypso, Zissou's is called Belafonte, because Harry Belafonte was a calypso singer. Get it? This project seems to be from the point-of-view of a child watching Jaques Cousteau and dreaming of living the Life Aquatic, then a little more grown up, realizing what a strange life that would be. That concept is certainly realized in this movie, and I would recommend that you see this movie just because it is so different. But don't blame me if you expected the Big Laugh and got instead only the Smart Laugh, because I warned you about that.
Steve Zissou: Supposedly Cousteau and his cronies invented the idea of putting walkie-talkies into the helmet. But we made ours with a special rabbit ear on the top so we could pipe in some music.
And what music it was. Seu Jorge portrayed Pelé dos Santos, a crew member who also strummed bossa nova guitar and sang David Bowie songs translated into Portuegese. He seemed to be playing David Bowie songs at every opportunity. Only they were played with a Brazilian back beat--in Portugese. All the David Bowie songs are arranged and sang by Seu Jorge. Except, like, "Search and Destroy," by Iggy Pop, but even that was produced by David Bowie.
There were some really unusual shots interspersed throughout, and some animation that melded seamlessly with the live action footage. Candy flavored seahorses, blowfish, you name it, any kind of fish one could imagine, and Bill Murray flicks one of those wondrous creations off, like it were a bug, and maybe it is. Maybe it is.
Steller cast. Wonderful director, writer, and cinematographer. Amazing art. There is one set where you see the ship in cut away view. Is that all there is? Is that all there is? If that's all there is, then let's keep dancing. Bring on the booze and have a ball, if that's all... there is.
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Bottle Rocket (1996) .... Owen Wilson was Dignan
Ted & Venus (1991) .... Bud Cort was Ted Whitley
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The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) .... Jeff Goldblum was New Jersey
Harold and Maude (1971) .... Bud Cort was Harold
Alistair Hennessey: How are things going with your - what are you calling it? Leopard fish?
Steve Zissou: Jaguar shark.
Alistair Hennessey: Jaguar shark! So tell me - does it really exist?
Steve Zissou: [hesitant] You know, Allie, I don't want to give away the ending.
Description of The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (The Criterion Collection)
Internationally famous ocenaographer steve zissou & his crew set sail on an expedition to hunt down the mysterious elusive - possibly nonexistent - jaguar shark that killed zissous partner during the documentary filming of their latest adventure. Studio: Buena Vista Home Video Release Date: 05/16/2006 Starring: Bill Murray Cate BlanchettIn The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, director Wes Anderson takes his familiar stable of actors on a field trip to a fantasy aquarium, complete with stop-motion, candy-striped crabs and rainbow seahorses. And though Anderson does expand his horizons in terms of retro-special effects and a whimsical use of color, fans will otherwise find themselves in well-charted waters. As The Life Aquatic opens, Zissou (Bill Murray), a self-involved, Jacques Cousteau-like filmmaker, has just released a documentary depicting the death of his best friend Esteban, who was eaten by some sort of sea creature--possibly a jaguar shark. Zissou?s troubles also include his waning popularity with the public, and a nemesis (Jeff Goldblum) who hogs up all the grant money. Hope arrives in the form of Ned Plimpton (Owen Wilson), an amiable Kentuckian who may be Zissou?s son. Despite his lack of enthusiasm for fatherhood, Zissou welcomes Ned--and Ned in turn saves Zissou?s new documentary (in which he seeks revenge on the jaguar shark) in more ways than one.
One of Wes Anderson?s greatest achievements as a director to date has been launching the autumnal melancholy phase of Bill Murray?s career, starting with Rushmore in 1998, and Murray delivers a similarly comedic yet low-key performance here. Unfortunately, Zissou is one of the few characters in this ensemble to achieve multi-dimensionality. Even co-star Wilson doesn?t get to develop Ned much beyond Noble Southerner, and he ends up seeming more like a prop for illustrating Zissou?s emotional development rather than his own man. The Life Aquatic probably won?t be remembered as a great film, but it is still one that no Anderson (or Murray) fan can afford to miss.--Leah Weathersby
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