voyage to the bottom
by Douglas Messerli
Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach
(writers), Wes Anderson (director), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou /
2004
In a theater which might well double
for an opera house, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou gets underway
with a raising of the curtain upon a proscenium stage, announcing its
presentation as Part I, a hint of the theatricality of the film that will follow.
Indeed, the events of this movie might almost be described as operatic: in the
manner of sea-going hero Jacques Cousteau, oceanographer and filmmaker Steve
Zissou (Bill Murray) has just returned from a voyage where he has lost his best
friend and exploring companion to a jaguar shark. His wife, Eleanor (Anjelica
Huston) is clearly bored by their relationship, and Zissou is having difficulty
raising the money for his next voyage, on which he hopes to seek out the shark
and, in revenge, blow it up—his announcement of which clearly offends his
audience. As if these problems were not enough, a young man, Ned Plimpton (Owen
Wilson), shows up at the after-event party, suggesting to Zissou that he may be
his illegitimate son! (Later in the film, however, Eleanor notes that “Zissou
shoots blanks”). As he admits at another point the picture, “I know I haven’t
been at my best this past decade.”
But the misadventures are just beginning. Production designer Mark
Friedberg, set decorator Gretchen Rau, and cinematographer Robert Yeoman stir
up a visually stunning catalogue of images as they take us on a tour of
Zissou’s ship the Belafonte (a 50-year old minesweeper much like Costeau’s Calypso).
It seems like something out of a coloring book rather than a sea-going vessel.
As Zissou observes, the kitchen is the most technologically advanced spot on
board.
Moreover, the crazy mix of crew and fellow voyagers—a sentimental
German, a music-playing Brazilian, an Indian cameraman, several inexperienced
interns, a very pregnant reporter (Cate Blanchett), as well as Zissou’s
newfound son (“How long have you been working on team Zissou,” the reporter
asks of Ned; “Not very long. About ten minutes,” he replies)—further arouses
our suspicions that this voyage will be doomed. When Eleanor Zissou—the brains
behind the team—refuses to participate, one recognizes that the ship is left in
the incapable hands of a comic Ahab.
As the voyage progresses, things go further downhill; indeed, this will
be a voyage to the very bottom of Zissou’s and his friend’s lives. Computers
refuse to function, forcing the team to break into an offshore facility of
Zissou’s nemesis and his wife’s former husband Alistair Hennessey (Jeff
Goldblum). Steering his ship across unprotected waters, Zissou suddenly finds
himself in the hands of brutal Filipino pirates. Amazingly, he snaps into
heroic action, saving all but the on-board accountant from certain death. The
ship, however, has been damaged, and as Hennessey catches up to it, there is no
choice but to put into port, where they are abandoned by their interns.
The discovery of Hennessey’s huge vessel about to sink, however,
reanimates the team as they head to the once populated island upon which sits a
now-deserted hotel, where, ultimately, they discover Hennessey’s crew buried
and Hennessey himself along with their company accountant playing cards with
their captors. Springing into action, Zissou and his accomplices save the day,
but soon after Ned is killed by his “father’s” negligence, as the onboard
helicopter crashes into the ocean.
As Eleanor finally rejoins the team, sonar picks up the presence of the
giant shark, and the remaining adventurers explore rock bottom in their
underwater vessel. Once again, the world portrayed here is a magical one, made
up of cartoon-like day-glo colored creatures and bejeweled puppets. Despite the
artificiality of this world—one should say because of the theatricality of
it—the magical beast they all finally get to glimpse is truly awe-inspiring,
and the ship of fools can finally resurface with a renewed sense of wonderment,
having shared in the adventures worthy of any childhood romance.
Los Angeles, May 5, 2006
Reprinted in Reading Films: My
International Cinema (Los Angeles: Green Integer, 2012).
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