The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)

Director:

Wes Anderson

Writers (WGA):

Wes Anderson (written by) &
Noah Baumbach (written by)

Release Date:

25 December 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Drama

Plot:

With a plan to exact revenge on a mythical shark that killed his partner, oceanographer Steve Zissou rallies a crew that includes his estranged wife, a journalist, and a man who may or may not be his son.

Plot Keywords:

Shark | Expedition | Pirate | Oceanographer | Revenge

Awards:

3 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Bill Murray	...	Steve Zissou
Owen Wilson	...	Ned Plimpton
Cate Blanchett	...	Jane Winslett-Richardson
Anjelica Huston	...	Eleanor Zissou
Willem Dafoe	...	Klaus Daimler
Jeff Goldblum	...	Alistair Hennessey
Michael Gambon	...	Oseary Drakoulias
Noah Taylor	...	Vladimir Wolodarsky
Bud Cort	...	Bill Ubell
Seu Jorge	...	Pelé dos Santos
Robyn Cohen	...	Anne-Marie Sakowitz
Waris Ahluwalia	...	Vikram Ray
Niels Koizumi	...	Bobby Ogata
Pawel Wdowczak	...	Renzo Pietro
Matthew Gray Gubler	...	Intern #1

Also Known As:

The Life Aquatic (USA) (working title)
Untitled Wes Anderson Project (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language, some drug use, violence and partial nudity.

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Icelandic | Filipino | Portuguese | French | Tagalog | German | Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Hungary:14 | Norway:11 | USA:R (certificate #41059) | South Korea:12 | Malaysia:U (DVD) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Chile:TE | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:12 | Ireland:15A | Netherlands:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | Brazil:14

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Touchstone Pictures

Trivia:

In Wes Anderson's earlier film, Rushmore (1998), there is a shot of Max Fisher on his go-kart which is a direct homage to a Jacques Henri Lartigue photograph. The man in this photo, as well as others taken by Lartigue is named Zissou.

Goofs:

Continuity: While on the submarine, Zissou inserts a tape into the player. The clock reads 2:18. The camera immediately cuts to Zissou turning the volume up, but the time now reads 1:45.

Quotes:

[first lines]
[in Italian]
Festival Director: Ladies and gentlemen, we are very pleased to welcome you to the world premiere of Part 1 of the newest film from a great favorite of ours here at Loquasto, Mr. Steve Zissou. A brief Q & A will immediately follow the screening. Thank you.

Movie Connections:

References Mission to Mars (2000)

Soundtrack:

Here's to You

Brilliant, unpretentious, charming

Well exactly as my summary says, this is a very well made straight-out unpretentious movie about a fading wildlife-film director's attempt to re-create his past success that made him some sort of cult phenomenon. Reading a few of the other reviews, I think this is evidently a "hate it or love it" film, however a lot of people seem to have missed the point-I don't think this film was really intended as a comdey, to me it was more just about the relationships and interactions between the various characters and maybe even an exploration of the human spirit.

The motivation for this project is revenge on the "leopard shark" that killed his best friend/long-standing partner and there is a lot of emotion on the way, including an inspiring relationship between him and his long lost son, whom he has never met but was a huge fan of his as a boy, and the constant drama between him and his wife, who's father's money has payed for his entire career.

Wes Anderson has excellent cinematography, with some great CGI, depicting marine life in a very retro fashion, and beautiful landscapes, as well as a very well put-together soundtrack including Sigur Ros, The Stooges and Ziggy Stardust era Bowie played in Portuguese with a classical guitar accompaniment. We also see Bill Murray at his best as well as a heart-warming performance by Owen Wilson, who I am not normally a fan of. The script is also very well written and the story is so well put-together that even an attack by pirates or looting a large scientific institution seem plausible in a serious movie about an oceanographer! Overall, this is a brilliant film and there isn't a lot more I can say.