What would life be like if we were living in Wes Anderson’s world?
Would your beige house be painted bright shades of pink and purple?
Would your everyday mundane tasks be accompanied by a soundtrack of David Bowie songs sung in Portuguese?
Would even the smallest of movements and feelings be exaggerated in detail?
If you did live in Wes Anderson’s world, you would most likely see in high contrast and find humor in the obscure; much like the audience did in the CDA Library Friday night as NIC’s Film Club put on a showing of Anderson’s newest award-winning film The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Before the feature movie was shown, the club put on their own small version of a thoughtful masterpiece, a music video entitled “Gone.” Directed by 19-year-old film student Patrick O’Farell with the help of his friends, it was an array of different thoughts collaborated into one.
Accompanied by an ambient song, the video displayed several different scenes layered over one another. These scenes featured a repetition of subjects from Christmas lights to views of the lake to melancholy young men sitting by one another–leading to one leaving the other sitting by himself.
Club member Doug Keaty helped O’Farell with the video and explained it was inspired by a music group called Sapphire Shores who shares their songs on Youtube.
“The music video was an exploration of the theme of being gone and alone,” Keaty said, 17, Film, Hayden. “Examples of being gone were the lamps with the lampshades removed and the vases with flowers removed.”
The short video had a good reception from the crowd made up of both student and non-students, young and old.
Armed with red solo cups filled with ice water and plates of popcorn, the small vocal audience of about 29 was captured for an hour and forty minutes.
Club President T.J. Gossard explained the movie choice was a democratic effort. The club posted Facebook suggestions and then members of the club voted for the movie to be shown on a survey website. The club officers then choose the movie with the most popular vote–and the Grand Budapest Hotel was the winner.
The movie itself was splashed with pinks, reds and purples as a star-studded cast illuminated the screen. In full costume and makeup, the stars were almost unlike their “normal selves.” The most unrecognizable was Tilda Swinton dressed as an old dowagess in full makeup.
The fast-paced and colorful movie contained jailbreaks, murders, cheating on spouses and displays of bisexuality. Starring Ralph Fiennes as a concierge who teams up with the bellboy named Zero (Tony Revolori), it follows the unlikely duo as they try to prove the concierge’s innocence after he is framed for murder of the old dutchess.
An altered reality inspired by the writing of Stefan Zweig, the movie is a retelling of Zero’s adventures and tales of love and brotherhood that he tells as an old man.
“The movie was poignant–time marches on and leaves no one behind,” club public relations officer Clint Arthemus Golub said, 23, Philosophy, CDA.
The event concluded as a few audience members and club officers stuck around to discuss the movie.
A sheet of questions was handed out for people to discuss–covering topics such as symbolism, filming techniques and culture. The more discussion of his movies ensued the more meticulous the group realized Anderson is about his films.
The group talked about Anderson’s story-telling techniques, creating humor and excitement out of mundane themes and his detachment from reality and use of microworlds (worlds inside of worlds). Similarities were found between his view of people and of real life, as everyone is interconnected in their own microworld.
