Wes Anderson’s new film “French Dispatch” is an anthology film with first magnitude stars. The 50-year-old author weaves three stories told by three “sharks of the pen” from one edition in a peculiar plot and returns to the big screen six years after the release of the film “Grand Budapest Hotel”.
The script is based on stories by Anderson, Roman Coppola, Hugo Guinness and Jason Schwartzman. This comedy drama consists of three story lines from different journalists. Together they form a collection of stories published in the newspaper French Dispatcher, which is published in the “fictional French city of the 20th century. The director admitted that he was inspired by his love for The New Yorker and that some characters and events have prototypes associated with this particular magazine.
At the heart of the story is the editor-in-chief of the newspaper, Arthur Govitzer Jr. (Bill Murray), who brought together a team of the best journalists of his time. The film consists of three novels – “A Concrete Masterpiece”, “The Editorial Office for the Manifesto” and “The Private Canteen of the Police Commissioner”.
In the first story, Tilda Swinton’s character tells the story of Moses Rosenthaler (played by Benicio Del Toro), an imprisoned artist who was “the loudest voice of his troubled generation” and became a sensation with the image of his muse, prison guard Simone (Lea Seidou). The art dealer Julian Cadagio (Adrien Brody) tries to buy Rosenthaler’s creation entitled “Simone’s Naked in the Prison Recreation Room”, but the author refuses, claiming that it is not for sale. In the end, it seems that Brody’s hero won – by the end of the trailer you can see the work in the salon, and Swinton’s voice says, “The painting was a sensation”.
Adrien Brody’s character is based on a real personality – a British art dealer Lord Duvina, to whom The New Yorker devoted a story in six issues. He almost alone created the American market for European works of art.
Duwin was known for his persistence in obtaining valuable works of art and, often, for his long pursuit of them. With a collection of world-class European masterpieces, he offered them to wealthy industrialists. These acquisitions helped form the basis for many American museums, such as the Frick Collection in New York and the Mellon and Cress collections at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
Today, Duvin’s legacy can be summarized with one frequently quoted phrase: “There is a lot of art in Europe and a lot of money in America.
Adrien Brody’s character is based on a real personality – the British art dealer Lord Duvina, to whom The New Yorker dedicated a story in six rooms. He almost alone created the American market for European works of art.
Duwin was known for his persistence in obtaining valuable works of art and, often, for his long pursuit of them. With a collection of world-class European masterpieces, he offered them to wealthy industrialists. These acquisitions helped form the basis for many American museums, such as the Frick Collection in New York and the Mellon and Cress collections at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
Today, Duvin’s legacy can be summarized with one frequently quoted phrase: “There is a lot of art in Europe and a lot of money in America.
“Joseph Duvin, who was unusually sensitive to all the nuances of the sale of paintings, drawings and sculptures, developed a strategy called “internal intelligence”. Duveen bribed butlers, valets and footmen of his wealthy clients to get useful information about their masters. In particular, he found that the collector, Baron Maurice de Rothschild, known for his excessive power, unquestioned tone and irritability, suffered from chronic constipation. Buying art is based not only on scientific grounds, but also on the state of the digestive system, so before offering Rothschild any deal, it was worth calling his valet de chambre to see if the gentleman’s bowel was empty this morning.
From Philip Hook’s book “The Gallery of Scams. History of Art and Those Who Sell It.”
Adrian Brody, who has starred in several Wes Anderson films, is well familiar with the world of art. He made his debut at Miami Beach Art Basel in 2015 with his own series of paintings of fish and sharks. A year later, the actor organized a highly publicized exhibition at Art New York. He is also known as a collector, and often appears on art forums with his friend Leonardo DiCaprio.
The second story is about Zeffireli (Timothy Shalama), a revolutionary student who wants to overthrow an unjust government. In the third, a food critic (Jeffrey Wright) investigates the chef at a police station when lunch is interrupted by a call from an unknown man who reports that he has kidnapped the policeman’s son.
