The
Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, directed by Wes Anderson;
written by Anderson and Noah Baumbach
Wes
Anderson’s, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, is an
offbeat and humane comedy loosely referencing the famous French
oceanographer Jacques Cousteau. Anderson, whose previous works
include Rushmore (1999) and The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), has
created a fable-like aquatic realm, in which themes close
to his heart rise above the fanciful.
(View
more pictures in the gallery)
Jacques
Cousteau (1910-1987) introduced millions of landlocked people
to the mysteries of the sea aboard his famous vessel, “The
Calypso,” with his television series, “The Undersea
World of Jacques Cousteau,” and his many documentaries.
The environmentalist and scuba pioneer co-invented the aqualung,
developed a one-person, jet-propelled submarine and helped
organize the first manned undersea colony. Anderson explains
in an interview that he was attracted to the oceanographer,
in part, for his role in World War II as a French Resistance
fighter.
Refracting
reality, Anderson’s Steve Zissou (Bill Murray)—who
is a bit of a showboat chronically off-course—appears
to be washed up as the first part of his latest documentary
encounters a stony reception at its premiere in Rome (of all
places). In response, Zissou sets out to prepare a voyage
that will film one last exploration to salvage his reputation
and avenge the death of his friend and long-time partner Esteban
du Plantier (Seymour Cassel). Esteban was consumed by the
fantastical Jaguar Shark for which Zissou has developed an
Ahab-like obsession. The creature, as Zissou is constantly
reminding everyone, may or may not exist.
The
scientist plans the excursion from his compound on Pescespada
Island and tries to ready, as much as possible, his half-functioning
boat, the Belafonte—a former mine-sweeper (Harry Belafonte=calypso
singer=“The Calypso”).
Team
Zissou is comprised of the oceanographer’s wife and
Vice President of The Zissou Society, Eleanor—the brains
of the operation (Anjelica Huston); the emotional, shorts-sporting
German engineer Klaus Daimler (Willem Dafoe); the opportunist
film producer, Oseary Drakoulias (Michael Gambon); and Pelé
dos Santos (Seu Jorge), the Brazilian Safety Expert who serenades
the boat’s crew. Others include the bare-breasted script
girl and the bewildered, unpaid interns. Mandatory attire
is a Cousteau-ish red cap and bright-blue jumpsuit. Speedos
are doled out for the right public relations occasion. In
fact, all Zissou-aggrandizing moments are to be recorded by
the ship’s lovingly browbeaten film crew.
Before
the Belafonte sets out to sea, strangers start cropping up.
An “Air Kentucky” pilot, Ned Plimpton (Owen Wilson)—like
someone out of a Civil War novel—appears claiming to
be Zissou’s illegitimate son. He has been a lifelong
fan of the explorer and joins the team. Zissou renames him
Kingsley Zissou. A pregnant British journalist, Jane Winslett-Richardson
(Cate Blanchett), mysteriously shows up on assignment to write
a magazine cover story. Another last minute addition to the
voyage is the “bond company stooge,” Bill Ubell
(Bud Cort).
High
seas adventures include confrontations with Filipino pirates
and Zissou’s arch rival, Alistair Hennessey (Jeff Goldblum),
a far more commercially successful oceanographer and Eleanor
Zissou’s former husband. When Eleanor leaves the Zissou
boat suffering from relationship fatigue, she encamps at Hennessey’s
estate in Port-au-Patois. Cody, a scruffy, three-legged dog
is left behind on the Belafonte by the pirates and assists
in their quirky demise. The odyssey ends with a tragedy, a
few reconciliations and a general rally behind Zissou’s
regained status as his deep sea nemesis is discovered to exist.
Visual
enthusiasm is the hallmark of The Life Aquatic. The undersea
world is magically stylized with electric jellyfish, Rat Tail
Envelope Fish—which turn inside out—Sugar Crabs
and the strange Jaguar Shark. The vintage World War II Belafonte,
with its cutaway wall revealing innumerable rooms and activity,
is a particular highlight. The laboratory, kitchen, editing
room, observation bubble are simultaneously visible, making
the ship, as the film’s production notes state, essentially
another character. The score featuring Brazilian singer/actor
Seu Jorge singing David Bowie songs in folk-style Portuguese
adds to the film’s peculiar emotionalism.
At
times, the movie’s uneven comic tempo is out of sync
with the compassionate performances of its actors. Murray
as Zissou is an effective combination of narcissism and vulnerability,
seemingly incapable of introspection. The passionately unperturbed
Huston is wonderful as Eleanor, an aristocratic scientist.
Owen Wilson plays it straight as the genteel and naive Ned
Plimpton/Kingsley Zissou, whose unswerving purity gives Team
Zissou a much needed revitalization. Dafoe’s Teutonic
Klaus is alternately sweet and foreboding.
It
is, however, Cate Blanchett who excavates the most important
truths in her portrayal of Jane Winslett-Richardson. The character’s
aggressive, screechy voice is odd and funny, yet tinged with
pathos: Jane reading Proust aloud, attempting to culturally
nourish her unborn child is unforgettable. Blanchett proves
to be the most capable of breathing life into Anderson’s
peculiar universe. The final shot of Jane holding her newborn
on the deck of the Belafonte encapsulates much of what the
filmmaker is trying to convey about fantasies, desires, frustrations
and his general antipathy for existing reality.
Despite
loss of life, relationships and careers, the characters huddle
together, negotiating uncharted waters in a submergible bubble
at the film’s conclusion. One reviewer suggests that
Jane’s amniotic fluid is akin to Anderson’s metaphoric
ocean where human connection is possible.
The
film’s disparate elements don’t always mesh; nonetheless,
this is a moving work. Its creators adopt an approach of literary
artifice to defend imagination, free play and unbridled enthusiasm.
A child’s fresh method of viewing the world at times
defies logic, but always yields magical and rewarding treasures.
The
Life Aquatic deals centrally with the alienation inherent
in social and family relations. Zissou and Eleanor can never
seem to get beyond the minutiae of the immediate; Jane embarks
on the Belafonte ambivalent about a pregnancy that stems from
an unhappy liaison. She is attracted to Ned’s surreal
innocence and repulsed by Zissou’s desperation and insensitivity.
For
Anderson, relationships that are biologically imposed are
the most problematic of all. When Ned asks Zissou why he never
tried to contact him, knowing that he was his son, Zissou
replies: “Because I hate fathers, I never wanted to
be one.” As it turns out, Zissou has always been sterile.
No matter, in the end, a real bond, surpassing any biological
imperative, has been cultivated with Ned.
The
giant, disinfected vessel of Alistair Hennessey, and his starched,
militaristic crew—contrasting with Zissou’s motley
setup—says something about the soulless, overbearing
nature of wealth. The better-financed oceanographer may eclipse
Zissou on the material level, but there is no contest when
it comes to a genuinely felt existence. Only when Hennessey
loses everything can he access his humanity.
Anderson’s
film is not an entirely successful effort, but there is something
liberating and deeply affecting about his method of work and
that of his collaborators. Cody, the three-legged dog, symbolizes
certain positive qualities that Anderson and company see in
struggling humankind—an irrepressible determination
and basic goodness that can overcome any mental or physical
handicap. Under present circumstances this may seem somewhat
skimpy, but in its disdain for all that is materially and
psychically false, staid and conformist, The Life Aquatic
of Steve Zissou is more than commendable.
