The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou

Locations
Call Number: DVD Comedy Life
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Malletts Creek Branch, Traverwood Branch, Westgate Branch

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Originally released as a motion picture in 2004.
Special features: Ten deleted scenes; interviews with the cast and crew with behind-the-scenes footage; select scene commentary with director Wes Anderson; ten David Bowie songs performed by Brazilian recording artist and actor Seu Jorge; interview with composer and Devo member Mark Mothersbaugh; Mondo Monda - Italian TV interview; "This is an adventure" - the making of a documentary by Albert Maysies; fold-out insert with cutaway of 'The Belafonte' with Eric Anderson's original illustrations; behind-the-scenes photos and original artwork; theatrical trailer; intern video journal by actor and real life intern Matthew Gary Gubler; new high-definition transfer, supervised by director Wes Anderson.
Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchett, Anjelica Huston, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Michael Gambon, Noah Taylor, Bud Cort, Seu Jorge.
Internationally reknown oceanographer Steve Zissou and his crew - Team Zissou - set sail on an expedition to hunt down the mysterious, always elusive, possibly non-existant Jaguar Shark that supposedly killed Zissou's partner during the documentary filming of their latest adventure. On this journey, Steve's crew are joined by a young airline co-pilot, who may or may not be Zissou's son, a beautiful journalist who has been assigned to write a profile of Zissou, and Eleanor, Zissou's estranged wife and co-producer. They face overwhelming complications including pirates, kidnapping, and bankruptcy.
DVD, region 1, widescreen (2.35:1) presentation; Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, RSDL dual-layer ed.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Best Anderson, Best Murray. A Masterpiece. submitted by CasualTim on January 18, 2011, 6:41pm I consider The Life Aquatic to be the peak achievement of Wes Anderson's phenomenal career, barely edging out the Salinger-esque Royal Tenenbaums and - in my opinion - clearly taking a much more significant place in film history than any of his other works. Life Aquatic has everything that makes a Wes Anderson film special, bending those quirks perfectly to the story (whereas in Darjeeling, Mr. Fox, and Tenenbaums, the story bends, sometimes backwards, to the quirks).

A perfect set of actors, cast perfectly, support the story and give us outlets for all the emotions and questions we as the audience experience. But as much as this film would be destroyed without Wilson, Huston, Blanchett, etc., this is the story of a man. It's the story of a man looking down over the landscape (seascape?) of his life, struggling to avoid regret and fear. Struggling to be sure he can say he created more than he destroyed, that his life was not a story exclusively of entropy.

When Zissou takes Ned up into the sky to indeed, survey that seascape, and asks a seemingly off-the-cuff question, we feel as though Murray is talking directly to us. As though he's not just asking us the question, but asking us to say yes; asking for validation and to be remembered as something larger than what he feels.

Which is, after all, what Royal Tenenbaum was chasing after, if more clumsily. His heroic tombstone, a lie that would be permitted by those who knew better, then come "true" given the right amount of time... Zissou is working the other direction, unwilling to lie to himself (despite pretending otherwise), he is forced to adjust his definitions and to face fears and facts head-on in order to avoid considering himself and his story anything other than semiphenomenal.

This is also the height of the Bill Murray Renaissance. Some may consider Life Aquatic too early to make such a statement, but consider: Murray plays an old man fearing that his days in both life and career are numbered, fearing that he's left behind important things and forgotten to pick up others at all. Perhaps even fearing that the life and career he's losing were mostly a figment of his imagination in the first place. Sound like he'd have a difficult time playing that role? Of course not. And of course, when the film decides it's time to unpack all of the emotions that come along with this transition (a transition we all tend to make at some point), there is a phenomenal efficiency in a single, quiet, soul-shattering moment the likes of which are rare on screen. Somehow, onions always seem to be being chopped in the next room when I'm watching that scene.

It would be uncouth not to remind you, dear reader, after heaping such praise on Murray and his Zissou, that this is the best of the films by directing phenom Wes Anderson, and it takes more than a single (if perfect) character to make that designation. The style is outstanding, from the much-talked about ship cross-section tour to the utterly anti-climactic (or, is it?) action sequence. Each scene has its purpose, each piece of the puzzle is added at just the right time. The Life Aquatic is a masterpiece not only for fans of Wes Anderson and Bill Murray, but also for those aware of life, aware of both how much bigger than life life can be, as well as how much smaller.

decent? submitted by lekendrick on January 8, 2012, 6:38am I think of Anderson as only a passable film maker prone falter given enough time the scripting is excellent & as for look any of his films this one is amazing mix special effect w/ live action all the players turn in fine performances I'd honestly been surprised length previous reviewers praise movie more should in fact be good as, but hardly phenomena deserving renaissance...

Excellent submitted by karjina on July 3, 2012, 8:42pm This movie is superb!

Fabulous casting, fabulous imagery. Angelica Houston is great for the role. Reminiscent of Royal Tenenbaums and Rushmore.

Spacey submitted by markwells on August 27, 2012, 5:41pm There seemed to be too much space in between the laughs. Maybe I was missing something or maybe this one is a little too quirky for my taste. Anyway if you like Bill Murray and you like off-beat movies check out Broken Flowers. B-

yes please watch me submitted by manz on July 3, 2013, 4:15pm Casual Tim pretty much said it. It's a great film worthy of a viewing. Bill Murray is so Bill Murray and he plays these Wes Anderson characters so well. I recently watched this again and fell in love all over again, as I do each time. It has a killer soundtrack, with tons of Bowie covers. Oh Bowie.

perfect submitted by airgood on July 25, 2014, 2:22pm This is definitely one of Wes Anderson's best. The cast includes some of his regulars. The sets are beautiful with lots of vibrant colors. I love the story and his ability to convey so many emotions elegantly; it's humorous and touching at the same time. The soundtrack is also outstanding.

Son of a b!*ch, I'm sick of these dolphins. submitted by Kikumatsu97 on July 27, 2015, 1:30pm Steve, Elanor, Jane, Kingsley, Klaus, Oseary Drakoulias!!! This is the most amazing film ever made. It's so hilarious and thought-provoking and clever. This movie for me, is made up of lots and lots of favorite parts. I could never go a couple of months without revisiting our DVD. This movie is mesmerizing and makes me feel like I've taken a very exciting trip with some very exciting people. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.