The French Dispatch

(Germany, United States / 2021 / Directed by Wes Anderson)

Showtimes November 19 - 21:

Headquartered in the imaginary French town of Ennui sur Blasé, the staff of The French Dispatch write a magazine insert that’s published in the equally fictional Liberty Kansas Evening Sun. When the magazine’s founder dies, his will stipulates that the publication be shut down. As his staff come together to mourn his passing, they put together a final issue that not only eulogizes their mentor but that speaks to their own histories as the magazine’s writers, copy editors, proofreaders, and legal advisors.

Depicted as sub-stories within the film, the staff’s memories of life and reportage flow into the creation of four pieces. They include a travelogue from The Cycling Reporter; a feature about a criminally insane painter; a manifesto of love and death on the barricades of a student revolt; and a suspenseful tale of drugs, kidnapping, and fine dining.

With palpable affection for French history and culture, The French Dispatch calls to mind a picture box place where rats, vermin, gigolos, and streetwalkers coexist with artists, chefs, romantics and revolutionaries. Building its stories frame inside frame like a narrative nesting doll, it’s a confectionary vision. “Bursting at the seams with hand-crafted visual delights and eccentric performances from a stacked ensemble entirely attuned to the writer-director’s signature wavelength, this is the film equivalent of a short story collection” (Hollywood Reporter).

R / 1 hr 48 mins.
In English and French with subtitles.