"The directors’ effective approach (in Little Miss Sunshine) reminds me of the similarly-toned Wes Anderson film “The Royal Tenenbaums” (2001). Anderson, keen on film history, was inspired by Orson Welles’ “The Magnificent Ambersons” (1942), but both his film and “Little Miss Sunshine” share themes of failure and longing for acceptance."
I never cottoned on to this: of course: the Magnificent Ambersons/ The Royal Tannenbaums.
The Royal Tannenbaums/ The magnificent Ambersons
Yes, but who directed KISS MEETS THE PHANTOM OF THE PARK? The plaintive "Beth" sung while the Star Child wanders aimlessly about the amusement park looking for her fiancee who's been turned into a robot surely was meant to evoke Michael's heartfelt longings during Rita's song in Lady from Shanghai.
No?
:p
No?
:p
Sto Pro Veritate
So I went to Junior High with Eric Anderson in Houston - Wes' little brother who does the great little drawings on the DVDs. And I have a real hard time stomaching these films. Not because they aren't great and meticulous and awesome - but the milieu they mine is one that I grew up in. Specifically that weird Houston, Texas private school life...where the sons and daughters of super successful men...who usually married trophy wives...were subjected to intensive tennis lessons, modeling school, and pressure to succeed no matter what the cost in this weird nouveau riche atmosphere....watching Royal Tenebaums was very painful to say the least. All these kids pressured to be "great" before their time. That stuff really happened to a whole generation down there.
In reality, most of those kids I grew up with ended up at Enron. Or in the corporate waste business (long story.) They would never be as successful as their fathers...in a weird way their fathers would all find these airhead trophy wives...and then be mad that their kids were a little dumb.
And...well...that's probably more than you wanted to know about me! But I have never seen anyone write about Wes' upbringing in relation to the characters and films he creates.
Chip
In reality, most of those kids I grew up with ended up at Enron. Or in the corporate waste business (long story.) They would never be as successful as their fathers...in a weird way their fathers would all find these airhead trophy wives...and then be mad that their kids were a little dumb.
And...well...that's probably more than you wanted to know about me! But I have never seen anyone write about Wes' upbringing in relation to the characters and films he creates.
Chip
Actually I've seen a little bit of "Ambersons" in "Tenenbaum's" as I've studied each over the years. Both films are in my favorite top 5 of all time. In particular the focus on the house in the prologue of "Tenenbaum's" might be a minor homage to the opening of "Ambersons." Anderson uses homage very regularly as part of his filmic vocabulary, enhancing the richness of his films for those in the know. It would be hard to dismiss Welles as an influence on Anderson, both of whom have a particular visual flair with extemely wide-angle lenses.
I hope someone else weighs in on this topic - could be interesting.
I hope someone else weighs in on this topic - could be interesting.
bord: I'm going to have to study tannebaums again to check out the possible influence. If you have done already, and i found it on the internet, then i believe it's there.
chipm: Actually, i found your post very interesting, and i didn't know that about anderson. It strikes me that there's a similarity in ansderson's upbringing and welles's: both were brought up in wealthy families, and were sent tp private schools. Of copurse, the generations were very different, but it seems Wes is a nonconformist as welles was: both used their lives not to get ahead financially, but to comment on society, particularly in tannenbauma and Ambersons. Remember welles said "I had aunts who had houses like those".
I think there may be more similarities than we know.
I've also seen Bottle Rocket and Rushmore, but i don't know if they play into this in the same way. and for some reason I confused Anderson with Linlater and "Dazed and Confused" and then realized that Anderson could never have directed the latter; so each director was filming what they knew.
Chipm: you lived the life of the tannenbaums, and i lived the life of dazed and confised.
chipm: Actually, i found your post very interesting, and i didn't know that about anderson. It strikes me that there's a similarity in ansderson's upbringing and welles's: both were brought up in wealthy families, and were sent tp private schools. Of copurse, the generations were very different, but it seems Wes is a nonconformist as welles was: both used their lives not to get ahead financially, but to comment on society, particularly in tannenbauma and Ambersons. Remember welles said "I had aunts who had houses like those".
I think there may be more similarities than we know.
I've also seen Bottle Rocket and Rushmore, but i don't know if they play into this in the same way. and for some reason I confused Anderson with Linlater and "Dazed and Confused" and then realized that Anderson could never have directed the latter; so each director was filming what they knew.
Chipm: you lived the life of the tannenbaums, and i lived the life of dazed and confised.
Pretty sure Anderson makes the comparison on his commentary track on the DVD. Don't have the disc to hand though, and it's been a while since I saw it. I didn't make the connection myself when I first saw 'Tenenbaums', but when an influence is something other than a direct and substantial 'tribute' / 'steal', it's always easier to notice when it's been pointed out already...
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