Blu-ray Review The French Dispatch Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

[Neil Middlemiss]

Ostensibly a tale about journalists for a peculiarly French-based outpost feeding stories to a magazine based in the American Midwest, Director Wes Anderson, working from his own screenplay based on a story co-written with Roman Coppola and Hugo Guinness, delivers art incarnate in The French Dispatch. From expressions of the written art to mad artists, art lovers, food art, revolution art, and historical art, there’s a wonderful beating heart of the pursuit of art as its own endeavor at play here. Every ounce of Wes Anderson’s creativity is brought to bear in this film, and that undiluted sensibility gives us the most Wes Anderson movie yet. It’s a joy to behold. Dense with detail, diorama filmmaking, and a delectable cinematic decoupage, The French Dispatch is a joyful experience. Recommended.



The French Dispatch (2021)



Released: 22 Oct 2021
Rated: R
Runtime: 107 min




Director: Wes...

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[titch]

A very good review, although I personally would not have held back from awarding it top marks! Absolutely the film I enjoyed the most at the cinema last year. I have all of Wes Anderson's films in my library and I now think The French Dispatch is his best one, after seeing them all again, immediately after I saw The French Dispatch in November. Some people have complained that the portmanteau structure makes this inferior to The Grand Budapest Hotel, Fantastic Mr. Fox or Moonrise Kingdom, but I'm not one of them. It's the most "Wes Anderson" of all Wes Anderson's films! Endless rewatchability!

I immediately checked the black and white scene with the naked Léa Seydoux, to see if the fine patina of grain in the picture on the blu-ray was identical to the cinema picture - it was. So it confirms that the video picture is reference quality. (And Léa Seydoux is FAR better in this film, than she was moping around in the last James Bond flick).

 

[mskaye]

You had me at Wes Anderson. I can't wait to get this. It was the first film I saw in a theater last year and I cried when it started. I love it. Dense as hell (probably 10 viewings wouldn't exhaust the detail in every corner of the frame) but also a beautiful and creative collage of a movie. Has some of his most touching moments too.

 

[John Dirk]

A beautifully written review of a film I might otherwise have dismissed outright.

Thank you @Neil Middlemiss

 

[mskaye]

A beautifully written review of a film I might otherwise have dismissed outright.

Thank you @Neil Middlemiss

Agree but then again you should never dismiss anything by Wes Anderson outright.

 

[titch]

Agree but then again you should never dismiss anything by Wes Anderson outright.

Wes Anderson is a Marmite filmaker. You either like his films, or you really don't.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Wes Anderson is a Marmite filmaker. You either like his films, or you really don't.
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So are his pictures rich in B vitamins?

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Great review! I am one of those people that love Wes Anderson films. So, I really had a great time watching this. I think the only weakness of the film is that the section with Benicio Del Toro is the best of the chapters and it comes early in the film. The primary effect of that being that the rest of the film does not live up to that section. I made comments about this in another thread on The French Dispatch.

I don't think this was the best of his work and probably is mostly a picture for Wes Anderson fans than one that will win over new acolytes. It is a bit of a love letter to a fictional France which is also fun.

 

[titch]

Great review! I am one of those people that love Wes Anderson films. So, I really had a great time watching this. I think the only weakness of the film is that the section with Benicio Del Toro is the best of the chapters and it comes early in the film. The primary effect of that being that the rest of the film does not live up to that section. I made comments about this in another thread on The French Dispatch.

I don't think this was the best of his work and probably is mostly a picture for Wes Anderson fans than one that will win over new acolytes. It is a bit of a love letter to a fictional France which is also fun.

Au contraire! I think the chapter "The Private Dining Room of The Police Commissioner by Roebuck Wright" was the undeniable highlight!

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Au contraire! I think the chapter "The Private Dining Room of The Police Commissioner by Roebuck Wright" was the undeniable highlight!

I did really like that segment as well. I have to admit though when Del Toro rises up above his canvas at the start of his segment with that smile on his face...I immediately had a good laugh.

 

[Kent K H]

I'm a huge Wes Anderson fan, but this was a like-it-not-love-it film for me, so I can wait for the inevitable Criterion release on it, whereas I pick most of his films up immediately from the studio.

 

[Angelo Colombus]

Thanks to my local library i did watch the movie for the first time recently and did like it especially the prison and the kidnapping of the kid segments. Amazon had the Blu-ray for $14 so i purchased it.