By Melissa Moody
Movie: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Bill Murray & Owen Wilson
Rated: R
Runtime: 119 minutes
Release date: In stores
Director Wes Anderson has an exceedingly unique point of view, and “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou,” Anderson’s most recent film, is a testament to that fact. “The Life Aquatic” fools the viewer into believing pure fantasy. The film also manages, however, to concretely explore universal human dilemmas, both painful and absurd, despite its eccentricity.
Steve Zissou, played by Bill Murray, manages to both evoke pity and incite anger. Impossibly and hilariously obtuse, Zissou paces about as the captain of a research boat, the Belafonte. With his crew, his interns, a pregnant female reporter (Cate Blanchett) and his long-lost son whom he has only just met (Owen Wilson), Zissou sets out to destroy the shark that ate his best friend. It’s a jaguar shark, and the first indication of the polarization Anderson creates between the underwater scenes and the rest of the movie. Introducing the shark is also where the initial and most obvious elements of science fiction and fantasy come into play.
The fish and other inhabitants of the sea are only loosely based on any known animal. There are crabs with multi-colored stripes, fluorescent pink schools of fish, and of course, the jaguar shark, a mammoth creature patterned like a jaguar.
With an all-star cast including Murray, Wilson, Blanchett, Angelica Huston (Eleanor Zissou), Willem Dafoe and Jeff Goldblum, “The Life Aquatic” demands you use your imagination and suspend your disbelief. Beyond the fantastic imagery and witty dialogue, Anderson is exploring relationships, familial and otherwise, and the nature of the human connection – as well as how people so easily muddle that connection. This film takes some patience but it is worth it in the end.
The special features on the DVD include deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with the cast and director. The interviews provide good insight into the minds behind the movie.
