Culture

“The Belafonte, home to Team Zissou, skilled crew of deep sea divers, adventurers, documentary filmmakers. Led by internationally renowned oceanographer captain Steve Zissou, expert on every aspect of marine life.”

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou was Wes Anderson’s fourth feature film, and first real encounter with negative feedback as critics complained of its self-indulgent cutesiness. With team Zissou constantly clad in red beanies (Steve even wears his to the documentary premiere to compliment his tux), all marine animals made in kitsch clay-mation, and the deadly jaguar shark being decorated by fluorescent fairy lights, Wes Anderson had just gone a bit too Wes Anderson.

Having said that, The Life Aquatic holds some of the funniest, most heartbreaking and quotable scenes of his career (“Steve! They say you have crazy eye!”), and is a stand out performance from Bill Murray as the title character. Steve Zissou is a class-A dickwad, but somehow the audience still find it in their hearts not to hate him due to Murray’s dry and honest performance. However, all are eclipsed whenever William Dafoe hits the screen as Klaus, the German engineer with surprising self esteem issues. Despite being a very minor role, Klaus is often cited as a film highlight.

Plot wise, Anderson has never gone so big – shark attacks, pirate kidnappings and submarine excursions all make an appearaance – and it feels strange to see Anderson’s classic character type (the lazy cynic) blowing up abandoned hotels. The film also holds an unnecessarily sad and dramatic plot twist for which it seems Anderson has spent the rest of his career trying to compensate – just think of the overly joyous Fantastic Mr. Fox and Moonrise Kingdom.

Although a lot about the film isn’t quite right, this is exactly what makes it so strange and magical. Since its 2004 release, its cult status has grown steadily, and the Team Zissou uniform has become a staple Halloween costume for hipsters worldwide. For me, The Life Aquatic can be summarised by the following exchange from the film: film critic: “congratulations … seriously.” Steve Zissou: “thanks. I wish it didn’t require the ‘seriously,’ but thank you.”