book club: the wes anderson collection

jump headfirst into the director's dream world!

by: liza darwin

October 08 2013


Do you:
A.) Harbor a secret crush on Max Fischer?
B.) Seriously consider chopping your hair into a blunt bob a la Margot Tenenbaum?
C.) Wish you were as cool as the kids in Moonrise Kingdom
D.) All of the above?

Then your coffee table wants--no, scratch that--needs this bookWritten by Matt Zoller Seitz, The Wes Anderson Collection is the ultimate guide to the writer and director like you've never seen it before. It's as close as we're going to get to stepping into Anderson's awesomely off-kilter universe, featuring previously never-before-seen photos, artwork, anecdotes, and more.

Seitz is a guy who clearly knows what he's talking about, too. The film and TV critic first met Anderson just before the release of 1996's Bottle Rocket and has been following his work ever since. 

Packed with 400 images of everything from behind-the-scenes set shots to makeup inspiration to hand-drawn storyboards, the massive tome is pure eye candy. But in addition to the visuals, Seitz also dives deep into each and every Anderson film, quizzing the director himself (for instance, The Royal Tenenbaums chapter is essentially a 7,000 word Q&A). Think of it as a really fun, never-ending scavenger hunt to get to the root of Anderson's genius: what motivates him, what inspires him, and why all of his characters are so damn cool...even when they're nerdy, depressed, and sometimes just plain messed up. 

We've been poring over the book all week, and now it's finally available to buy today. So get a sneak peek of what to expect below, flip through the gallery, and watch the trailer (yes, this book has a trailer...). And most importantly, get the book here! Just like Anderson's films, this is one essential that we can't wait to obsess over again and again. 

Rushmore was originally supposed to be scored by the Kinks. 
"They seemed like a kind of a good model. They're in blazers but they're more like sort of lunatics, which is also our character."

The Royal Tenenbaums takes influence from Peanuts cartoons, Franny and Zooey, but most importantly, Orson Wells. 
"He likes the big effect, the very dramatic camera move, the very theatrical decide. I love that! And then also, he loves actors, and he is an actor himself, and he always created giant characters that also tend to be larger than life." 

All the costumes in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou were polyester.
"It was very difficult to work with polyester. It doesn't age very well, either. The colors stay very clean and bright and everything, but when they pick up dirt it just becomes part of the costume."

Anderson doesn't like to think about the movie's themes beforehand.
"I usually have a vague but clear plan on how much make the movie, but the themes, the meanings? I don't like to field the question at all, even to myself. And also, with The Darjeeling Limited, we definitely made it part of our system for producing the movie to accept whatever happened that did not follow our plan--to try not to fight it."

Kara Hayward's eye makeup in Moonrise Kingdom is inspired by Sissy Spacek's character in Badlands.
"Sissy Spacek's Holly gives herself raccoon eyes in Badlands, and Kara Hayward's Suzy has raven eyes when Sam meets her in Moonrise."

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