The French Dispatch
Original title: The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun
A love letter to journalists set in an outpost of an American newspaper in a fictional twentieth century French city that brings to life a collection of stories published in "The French Disp... Read allA love letter to journalists set in an outpost of an American newspaper in a fictional twentieth century French city that brings to life a collection of stories published in "The French Dispatch Magazine".A love letter to journalists set in an outpost of an American newspaper in a fictional twentieth century French city that brings to life a collection of stories published in "The French Dispatch Magazine".
- Nominated for 3 BAFTA Awards
- 25 wins & 122 nominations total
Steve Park
- Nescaffier
- (as Stephen Park)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe animated segments of The French Dispatch were directed by Gwenn Germain, who previously worked on Anderson's Isle of Dogs. As a nod to Angoulême's comic heritage, the sequences were done entirely by local illustrators. The team comprised a maximum of 15 people, using The Adventures of Tintin and Blake and Mortimer as their main inspirations. The process took about seven months to complete.
- GoofsDuring the interview, Roebuck Wright's jacket chest pockets are unbuttoned and then buttoned after cut.
- Quotes
Roebuck Wright: Maybe with good luck we'll find what eluded us in the places we once called home.
- Crazy creditsCovers of different issues of The French Dispatch accompany the first few minutes of the ending credits.
- ConnectionsFeatured in What 16 Movies Looked Like Behind the Scenes in 2021 (2021)
- SoundtracksBouree Sur Place & Forward (Waltz in C# Minor from Les Sylphides)
Written by Frédéric Chopin
Performed by Steven Mitchell
Courtesy of Danceables Records
Featured review
Style over substance, it left me unmoved
As "The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun" (2021 release; 107 min) opens, we are introduced to the French fictional town of Ennui-sur-Blasé (translated from French, literally, "boredom on apathetic"), where an outpost of the Liberty, Kansas Evening News gathers one last time to bring the final issue of the French Dispatch, a weekly magazine. Within minutes, we are introduced to a myriad of characters...
Couple of comments: this is the latest from writer-director Wes Anderson. Whose work I mostly adore ("Isle of Dogs"., "The Grand Budapest Hotel", "The Royal Tenenbaums", just to name those). It feels to me as if "The French Dispatch" is the culmination of many of his earlier films, with maximum focus on style but regretfully not enough attention to the storytelling. Is this supposed t be a "comedy"? If so, I can tell you that I didn't laugh a single time. If it's supposed to be something else, that didn't resonate with me either. In the end, I simply watched but I never "bought into" the film or felt connected with any of it or the characters. Per the usual, this is an ensemble cast, but on steroids, as in: DOZENS of big names, some of which you'll miss if you blink. In the end the movie never achieves the sum of its parts, and it all felt strangely aloof and left me unmoved.
"The French Dispatch" was filmed in 2019 and its release was one of the many victims of COVID, being pushed back several times. By the time it received a US theatrical release in Fall, 2021, it almost felt like its due date had already come and gone. I missed it in the theater, and finally caught it the other day on HBO Max. If you, like myself, are a big Wes Anderson, I'd readily suggest you check it out, with low(er) expectations, and draw your own conclusion.
Couple of comments: this is the latest from writer-director Wes Anderson. Whose work I mostly adore ("Isle of Dogs"., "The Grand Budapest Hotel", "The Royal Tenenbaums", just to name those). It feels to me as if "The French Dispatch" is the culmination of many of his earlier films, with maximum focus on style but regretfully not enough attention to the storytelling. Is this supposed t be a "comedy"? If so, I can tell you that I didn't laugh a single time. If it's supposed to be something else, that didn't resonate with me either. In the end, I simply watched but I never "bought into" the film or felt connected with any of it or the characters. Per the usual, this is an ensemble cast, but on steroids, as in: DOZENS of big names, some of which you'll miss if you blink. In the end the movie never achieves the sum of its parts, and it all felt strangely aloof and left me unmoved.
"The French Dispatch" was filmed in 2019 and its release was one of the many victims of COVID, being pushed back several times. By the time it received a US theatrical release in Fall, 2021, it almost felt like its due date had already come and gone. I missed it in the theater, and finally caught it the other day on HBO Max. If you, like myself, are a big Wes Anderson, I'd readily suggest you check it out, with low(er) expectations, and draw your own conclusion.
helpful•395
- paul-allaer
- Jul 4, 2022
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $25,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $16,124,375
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $1,348,804
- Oct 24, 2021
- Gross worldwide
- $46,333,545
- Runtime1 hour 47 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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