I received the Wes Anderson Collection by Matt Zoller Seitz for my birthday.
The book is beautiful. However I found the interior art serviceable, it didn’t knock my socks off.
But the book design more than makes up for it.
Each movie chapter consists of an essay by the author and an interview with Wes Anderson. The essays are brief and spot on, but the real treasure is the interview. Matt Zoller Seitz asks thoughtful questions and manages to get Anderson to open up about his work.
The interview is profusely illustrated with behind the scenes photos and inspiration.
Hitchcock’s Rear Window and Satyajit Ray’s The Lonely Housewife influenced Moonrise Kindgom
Sissy Spacek’s eye makeup from Badlands, contrasted with Kara Hayward’s makeup in Moonrise Kingdom.
When I first saw the movie, I fell in love with Frances McDormand’s 60s shift dresses.
I love how the aqua of the wall mural ties in with the aqua of her dress. I also just really love her legs.
Fake books created for the movie. Susie likes to read “stories with magic powers in them. Either kingdoms on earth or on foreign planets. Usually I prefer a girl hero, but not always.” I love the Isaac Asimov/Arthur C. Clarke mash up.
The needlepoint of the church inspired needlepoints of the rest of the main sets.
One of the things they get into that I love is Anderson’s use of miniatures, rather than using all CGI. It’s not that he thinks miniatures look less fake than computer graphics, but that he prefers the fakeness of miniatures.
The book is wonderful and I can’t recommend it enough!
nouvellegamine 