The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)

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.

Director:

Wes Anderson

Writers:

Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach

Stars:

Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Anjelica Huston

3 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

When his partner is killed by the mysterious and possibly nonexistent Jaguar Shark, Steve Zissou and his Team Zissou crew set off for an expedition to hunt down the creature. Along with his estranged wife, a beautiful journalist and a co-pilot who could possibly be Zissou's son, the crew set off for one wild expedition.

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Plot Keywords:

shark | team | expedition | oceanographer | sea | 

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Taglines:

The deeper you go, the weirder life gets

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Icelandic Filipino Portuguese French Tagalog German Italian

Release Date:

25 December 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Life Aquatic

Filming Locations:

San Carlo Theatre, Naples, Campania, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$113,085, 12 December 2004, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$24,006,726, 27 February 2005

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$10,788,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures, American Empirical Pictures, Scott Rudin Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The ailment acquired by Steve, hydrogen psychosis (or "crazy-eye") is a play on an actual diving malady known as nitrogen narcosis.

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Goofs

After the pirates leave and Steve finds the dog still on the ship, we hear Cody bark, but his mouth doesn't move.

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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.

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Crazy Credits

In memory of Jacques-Yves Cousteau and with gratitude to the Cousteau Society, which was not involved in the making of this film.

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Connections

Featured in Starz on the Set: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2005)

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Soundtracks

Staralfur
Written by Orri P. Dyrason, Kjartan Sveinsson, Jon Thor Birgisson, Georg Holm (as Geor G Holm), and Agust Aevar Gunnarsson
Performed by Sigur Rós
Courtesy of FatCat Records Ltd

User Reviews

My personal favorite

This is my all time favorite movie. The comedic intricacies are unmatched, combined with rich visuals and a compelling plot. I am not a fan of most Wes Anderson films, they tend to be a bit too subtle for my taste (DarJeeling Limited, Royal Tenenbaums...). However, Bill Murray hits it out of the park with his deadpan lines (I'm right on the edge. I don't know what comes next....I'm about to blow my stack). Understated performances abound which fits the film perfectly, which means the film may require a few viewings to appreciate it fully (it took me awhile to warm up to it). The soundtrack is amazing also, both the Seu Jorge (sp?) tracks and the Devo instrumentals. All in all, I feel this is Anderson's best work, and I know I am probably in the minority on this, but it's much better on many levels than his previous and subsequent films.

Ann Marie?? Do the interns get Glocks? "No, they all share one."