Wes Anderson’s Symbolic Storyworld: A Semiotic AnalysisWes Anderson's Symbolic Storyworld presents a theoretical investigation of whatmakes the films of Wes Anderson distinctive. Chapter by chapter, it relentlessly pulls apart each of Anderson's narratives to pursue the proposition that they all share the same deep underlying symbolic values – a common symbolic storyworld. Taking the polemical strategy of outlining and employing Claude Lévi-Strauss's distinguished (and notorious) work on myth and kinship to analyze eight of Anderson's films, Warren Buckland unearths the peculiar symbolic structure of each film, plus the circuits of exchange, tangible and intangible gift giving, and unusual kinship systems that govern the lives of Anderson's characters. He also provides an analysis of Wes Anderson's visual and aural style, identifying several distinctive traits of Anderson's mise en scène. |
Contents
Film Theory Film Analysis | |
Bottle Rocket | |
The Royal Tenenbaums | |
The Life Aquatic with Steve | |
The Darjeeling Limited and Hotel | |
Fantastic Mr | |
Moonrise Kingdom | |
The Grand | |
The Symbolic Storyworld of Wes Anderson | |
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abstract Agatha Anderson’s films Anderson’s storyworld animals Anthony and Dignan Anthony’s apple Aquatic auteur structuralism auteur theory Bill Murray binary oppositions Bishop Blume Bottle Rocket Captain Sharp chapter characters Chas Cinema conflict Darjeeling Limited death defined diegesis Dignan director’s Dmitri Etheline exchange feather ceremony fictional film’s Francis Grand Budapest Hotel Gustave Henry identifies Inez interethnic relationship Jack Jack’s Jane Jason Schwartzman kinship relations Kristofferson Kylie letter Lévi-Strauss Madame D Madame D.’s manifest Margaret Max’s meaning mediation Metz Miss Cross Montage sequence Moonrise Kingdom Mordecai mother myth mythemes narrative Natalie Portman Ned’s orphan Owen Wilson paradigm paradigmatic analysis parents Peter play resolved Richie’s robbery role Royal Tenenbaums Rushmore Sam’s scene Scout Master Ward semantic shots status steal Steve Zissou structural semiotics Suzy symbolic order syntagmatic system of codes Tenenbaum house theory three brothers Title card transformations underlying Wollen’s Zero Žižek