In mid-September, director Wes Anderson released 12 posters, corresponding to the 12 main characters in the newly released film The French Dispatch. Although they are just pictures, from the main poster to the posters of the characters, they all have a very "Wes Anderson" characteristic: symmetrical frames, impressive angles, nostalgic colors, carefully selected models, details, and accessories... They are like a collection of 20th-century postcards - just by looking at them, you can nod and know for sure that Wes Anderson's hand is involved.
In an interview with French magazine Charente Libre, Wes Anderson said: “The story of The French Dispatch is not easy to explain. It is about an American journalist living in France who starts his own magazine. The film is a portrait of this man – a journalist who struggles to write what he wants to write. But it is not a film about freedom of the press, but when we talk about reporters, we are also talking about what is happening in real life.”
In fact, Wes Anderson is an avid reader of The New Yorker, an American magazine that specializes in reporting, criticism, essays, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Since his childhood, the director has amassed a huge collection of publications from The New Yorker. The French Dispatch is said to have been inspired by this famous newspaper.
The French Dispatch has been described as “a love letter to journalists.” Wes Anderson traveled around France looking for a suitable setting, eventually settling on Angoulême to become Ennui-sur-Blasé, a fictional 20th-century French town in the film.
The film tells three stories, rewritten by reporters from the fictional magazine The French Dispatch. The three stories are: an artist imprisoned for life for a double murder, two revolutionary youths involved in a student riot, and a kidnapping solved by a chef.
The French Dispatch was scheduled to be released in the summer of 2020. However, due to the impact of the pandemic, the film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in July 2021 and was officially released to the public by Searchlight Pictures on October 22.
The film brings together a star-studded cast, from Oscar winners: Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Benicio Del Toro and Adrien Brody; to a series of veteran actors who have collaborated with Wes Anderson before: Bill Murray, Saoirse Ronan, Tilda Swinton, Benicio Del Toro and Frances McDormand; and favorite newcomers such as Timothée Chalamet, Jeffrey Wright, Lyna Khoudri, Stephen Park.
Ahead of the film’s release, Wes Anderson has teased fans with a glimpse of the town of Ennui-sur-Blasé, and the characters who will appear there. The 12 cast posters are meant to be love letters to the audience, and they’re more than just a showcase of the faces in the film. Each poster is tied to a specific character – even if we’re not sure what they actually mean.
Bill Murray as Arthur Howitzer Jr., a character inspired by Harold Ross - founding editor of The New Yorker
Timothée Chalamet plays a student revolutionary, and his poster looks a lot like the political posters used by the French Revolutionary Students in real life in May 1968.
Lea Seydoux's stern prison guard role, and the vertical lines on either side represent the prison she works in.
Owen Wilson is a cyclist and journalist for Herbsaint Sazerac, with a map of Ennui-sur-Blasé with a colored cycling route behind him.
Andrien Brody as Julien Cadazio, an art dealer, based on the real-life Lord Duveen, who was the subject of a six-part column by S.N. Behrman (a reporter for The New Yorker magazine).
Frances McDomand as Lucinda Krementz, a reporter involved in an article about the student riots that have rocked France.
Lyna Khoudri as Juliette
Tilda Swinton as JKL Bereseon
Benicio Del Toro as Moses Rosenthaler
Stephen Park as Lieutenant Nescaffier
Jefrey Wright as Roebuck Wright
Mathieu Amalric as French police officer
We could call these 12 posters promotional material, a list of film awards contenders, or a masterpiece of art—which is what it is.
