• One of the great stylists and auteurs working has given us a prodigious masterpiece and achieved his full and unique vision (not to mention a statement on the impact of storytelling, art, and the loss of virtue).
  • The first thing of note is the twinning of the story within a story within a story nesting dolls and the changing aspect ratios. Wes uses the device of honoring a storyteller (here by Tom Wilkinson and then in a younger version as Jude Law) to ruminate on the impact of art— I love it. He also connects the aspect ratios with the various time periods (and what would be used in the time of the filming)- the late 60’s is a flatted wide cinemascope inspired ratio and the 30’s is a boxier frame. The 80’s is different still I believe. It’s not empty—it’s attention to detail and therefore, very befitting of Wes’ style
  • Certainly influenced by Lubitsch—– it has his refined touch—specifically to be or not to be
  • It’s whimsical, hilarious, and fun—but there’s a melancholic undertone for sure
  • It has Wes’ mentor/mentee/father figure
  • Chapter breaks
  • A dead animal (here a cat)
  • Like Soderbergh and Fincher (though less) he uses lighting as part of the mise-en-scene
  • It’s loaded in pinks (the hotel), red (the elevator) and purple (uniforms). Beautiful. I love the late 60’s burnt orange of the hotel as well
  • There’s inspiration by von Stroheim- in fact- the arresting officer in the train initially (interrupted and saved by Edward Norton) looks like a 30 year old Von Stroheim and this can’t be accidental
  • 99 minutes and nothing wasted
  • 2 I think Zooms like all his work—ditto for an Iris-in
  • It has something to say on the loss of civilization—or polite (and he ties refinement and the “code” here of like discretion in) behavior vs barbarism—I picked up that Fiennes character is constantly helped by people he’s treated well—civilized. He’s helped by Norton (knows him from him being kind in the past), guy in prison who he shares food with, etc— this dichotomy is depicted clearly in the black and white sequence
  • Shot with his trademark symmetry and right angles
  • The stunning close-up merry-go-round lighting background shot of Ronan
  • This is description more than evaluation—but it’s the strongest plot propulsion of his oeuvre. There’s so much movement forward here
  • A highlight for me here with the third watch is the chase and death of Jeff Goldbloom’s character through the museum. Wes, just for fun, has Dafoe chase him through a gorgeous museum. It’s knockout moment for cinematic mise-en-scene
  • I think, like Nolan, Wes bothers some critics for not being improvisational and open-ended—there’s never any ambiguity in Wes’ work and they think art should be that way—he shares this with Nolan actually—he’s exacting— he’s not alone here- Kubrick, Htichcock and others were the same way- so these two are in great company historically
  • The finale act gets very action and chase heavy like moonrise. I guess in general I like the introduction and laying out of the worlds in these films to the long action sequences—
  • A Masterpiece