The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Wes Anderson

Writers (WGA):

Wes Anderson (written by) &
Noah Baumbach (written by)

Release Date:

25 December 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Drama

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Shark | Expedition | Pirate | Oceanographer | Revenge

Awards:

3 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

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

Also Known As:

The Life Aquatic (USA) (working title)
Untitled Wes Anderson Project (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

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

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Icelandic | Filipino | Portuguese | French | Tagalog | German | Italian

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Hungary:14 | Norway:11 | USA:R (certificate #41059) | South Korea:12 | Malaysia:U (DVD) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Chile:TE | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:12 | Ireland:15A | Netherlands:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | Brazil:14

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Touchstone Pictures

Trivia:

The shot of Bill Murray feeding a fish to a killer whale, which appears during a montage on Zissou's island, was also in the script for Anderson's earlier film Rushmore (1998) (where it was written into a montage when Murray's character is looking at fish specimens for his new aquarium)

Goofs:

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

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.

Movie Connections:

References Mission to Mars (2000)

Soundtrack:

Life on Mars?

A real treat!

Although one person I was with at the pre-screen hated it, I absolutely loved it. I think it will just be one of those kinds of films (but hey, I also loved "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" which this reminded me of). Pure crazy fantastical stuff and I was completely taken with it.

It's a visually beautiful film with loads of odd little CG touches and subtle visual gags. The cutaway tour of the ship was a classic. Murray gives an amazing, energetic, yet deadpan performance and I also liked the richness of the smaller roles like "Klaus." The soundtrack was quirky and wonderful with unexpectedly hilarious Bowie covers and pounding, rocking tracks in the action scenes.

I think the gorgeous locations, sets and props nearly steal the show--kind of reminded me of "Brazil" in that way and I think it is destined to become a cult film in the same way "Brazil" has.

I can't wait to take some friends of mine and see what they think once it opens--this is one of those movies that's so different and off the wall that it will be interesting to see how it plays out. Although I realize it's getting mixed reviews, I'll stick my neck out and call it a masterpiece.

Being old enough to have grown up with Jacques Cousteau, I felt Anderson really captured the look and feel he was after with the the "movie within the movie" sequences and the yellow typographical stuff was spot-on.

If, like me, you're bored with the usual metroplex fare, this odd, unexpected movie is for you. What a blast! Wheeeeee!