The “Royal Tenenbaums,” directed by Wes Anderson, is a comedy and a drama that was released in 2001. It tells the story of three protege siblings, who have just been reunited with their father after more than twenty years. Richie, one of the two sons, became a successful tennis player but then retired at age 26 after experiencing breakdown. Richie is in love with Margot, his adopted sister, who is an accomplished playwright. In this scene, Margot has just gotten off of a bus to meet Richie, who has been living on an ocean liner for months.
The scene opens with a series of wide shots, none of which show much detail about Richie’s character. While Richie waits for Margo to arrive, there in an over-the-shoulder angle, with Richie in the foreground waiting for Margo’s bus. Immediately after Margo steps off of the bus, there is a mid shot of her. It is a shot from his point of view, but Margo’s enlarged size is not exactly what Richie would see. The director used this shot and enlargement of Margo in the frame in order to show where Richie’s focus is, which is on Margo. We are instantly pulled in to focus all of our attention on Margo, just as her brother is focused entirely on her.
Before this moment of her arrival, the sounds have only been everyday sounds, such as car noises and sirens, and the narrator talking. But once Richie has seen her, upbeat indie music begins playing. The music helps convey Margot’s emotions, despite her character usually acting reserved and constrained.
Additionally, everything before this moment has been relatively fast paced. Richie is asked to take a quick picture, and walks to do that. Then, people stream out of doors in the background behind him. But once Margot steps of the bus, time slows down because we are experiencing this moment as Richie would. Nothing is moving except the main characters. He loves her, and it becomes easy to tell this by seeing her in slow motion. The lighting on Margot also helps to display Richie’s love. The sun is illuminating Margot and highlighting her as she walks. The colors she is wearing also add to the bright and glowing look. Her fur coat and shiny blonde hair stand out compared to the colors before she arrived, and the bright green bus she arrived on also help to display her importance and effect on Richie. Richie also is presented in more of an illuminated light after he sees Margot. In the background, the sun is shining and radiant.
We then switch to a close up shot of Richie, and then back to a dolly shot of Margot. As we switch between shots of the two characters, the camera zooms in on Richie. For the most part, this scene only uses a few different camera angles, rather than constantly introducing new ones.
The last shot of this scene shows a two shot, where Richie and Margot, on either end of the screen, walk towards each other and embrace. The timing of these two characters walking together is matched perfectly with the zoom to highlight the moment that the scene has led up to, which is their embrace.
One style technique that director Wes Anderson uses often throughout this scene and in all of his movies is a symmetrical shot with the character centered perfectly in the middle. This happens multiple times in the scene, where both Richie and Margot are split the screen in half by standing in the middle of the frame. Anderson uses this symmetry in order to make shots pleasing to the viewers. Symmetrical shots also pull your attention towards what Anderson wants you to be looking at, which is usually the main character in the scene.
Wes Anderson’s movies also mostly include the use of a third-person narrator, which helps to provide the audience with information that the characters themselves may or may not know. For example, the narrator in this scene tells us “as always, [Margot] was late,” which helps to develop her character provide more insight. Having narration instead of more character dialogue can entertain the audience with the narrator’s delivery, and let’s the audience know more than the characters and therefore having a certain anticipation for what will happen.
Anderson’s style itself is very distinctive and recognizable, and this scene it just one example of that. Between the storybook style, deadpan narration, and nostalgic feeling, the scenes in his movies come together to create eccentric but fascinating pieces of art.
Sources
Barsam, Richard Meran., and Dave Monahan. Looking at Movies: An Introduction to Film. 4th ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2013. Print.
"5 Things You Can Learn From Wes Anderson's Symmetrical Style - The Shutterstock Blog." The Shutterstock Blog. N.p., 30 June 2014. Web. 21 Jan. 2016. http://www.shutterstock.com/blog/5-things-you-can-learn-from-wes-andersons-symmetrical-style>.
"Margot & Richie - By Way Of The Green Line Bus." YouTube. YouTube, 16 Dec. 2011. Web. 21 Jan. 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=949DcEoeSec;.
Piechota, Carole L. "Give Me a Second Grace: Music as Absolution in The Royal Tenenbaums." Senses of Cinema. N.p., 07 Feb. 2006. Web. 21 Jan. 2016. http://sensesofcinema.com/2006/on-movies-musicians-and-soundtracks/music_tenenbaums/
