The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2004
	Director: Wes Anderson (Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel)
	Actors:  Bill Murray (Groundhog Day, Ghostbusters, Lost in Translation), Owen Wilson (Zoolander), Anjelica Huston, Cate Blanchett (The Lord of the Rings 1-3), Willem Dafoe (Spider-man), Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic Park: The Lost World, Independance Day 1-2)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Comedy, Documentary
	Conditions of visioning: 24.11.16, VOD, 32" TV.
Synopsis: Towards the end of a declining oceanographic Documentary-making career, Steve Zissou (Murray) looses his best friend at sea to a monster he dubs Leopard-Shark. This event renews interest in his work and he then sets-up to find the beast. Meanwhile he learns about the existence of his possible son Ned (Wilson).
Review: I discovered Wes Anderson's style in The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) which I preferred to the older Moonrise Kingdom (2012). The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is much older and one of his first, but one can already recognize his trademarks: non-traditional shooting (from far away, different angles...), many known actors often casted against type, down-to-Earth story and dialogs taking place in a kind of fantasized World, both visually and in its very existence. The life of Steve Zissou is wildly inspired from the one of our own Commandant Cousteau (this is even acknowledged in the end credits), from his genius to the devoted crew, his beloved ship, the shooting of Documentaries and the dynamiting of ocean life which was not such a big deal in the 80's but led to a mini-scandal some years ago when some people watched again the 30 years-old Academy Award and Palme d'Or-winning The Silent World. I do not know enough about the life of Cousteau and his team to comment on the likeliness of other elements of the story. Bill Murray is funny as usual, especially when wearing the trademark red hat. The other actors accompany him well (Blanchett, Dafoe, Wilson, Goldblum...). I loved the sets from this movie, like the one of the ship cut in half to get an explanation of what everybody is doing on board and in which room. I also like to 2-tone very simple music accompanying the scenes without dialog. The cinematography is not as extremely geometric as in The Grand Budapest Hotel but you get some hints of the same style during some travellings. All-in-all a good movie but I found that it went too slowly and I got a bit bored towards the end. Many delightful scenes in the Wes Anderson style interrupted by some less attractive ones.
Rating: 5 /10