Wes Anderson has gained quite the following in the last few years, and after the Grand Budapest Hotel, fans have been eagerly awaiting his next film. Wes' latest project has been reported as another stop motion animated film, like Fantastic Mr. Fox.
But in the mean time, his restless fans were given an early christmas present.
Wes recently directed an H&M commercial for the 2016 Christmas season. It stars Adrien Brody as a conductor on a late running train, nearing Christmas. The commercial contains all the hallmarks of a Wes production including symmetrical shots, pastel colors, boy choir soundtrack, vintage technology, distinct costumes, etc.
Anyone familiar with his work will instantly think of Wes' film The Darjeeling Limited. Because of the Christmas theme, one could also associate the story with the Polar Express (not a Wes film). You could say Brody plays a quirky Anderson version of Tom Hanks' conductor character. The conductor characters in both the commercial and the Polar Express are grown men doing their jobs and doing them well. At the same time, they are kind figures who care about making children happy on Christmas, which is represented in both works.
Like his other films, theres a lot you can learn about the story by looking closely at details. Wes is known for this.
A short list of things I noticed after five or so views:
-C. Ralph tears the calendar paper from the 24th to December 25th
-The black lady is reading an Agatha Christie Book (AG wrote Murder on the Orient Express, another train reference)
-The blonde lady in her silky shirt is reminiscent of Margot from The Royal Tenenbaums
-The child in the upstairs car is an unaccompanied minor according to the sign
-The Japanese fellow looks at the camera as he walks down the hallway
-Fritz is holding a tray of all the ingredients to the "chocolate flavored hot beverage- with whipped topping." Then the boy is seen eating the cream off the top of the beverage
I like the songs he chose for this story. Both are boy/youth choir that keeps the with the story's theme of childhood innocence and wonder towards the Christmas holiday. Also, I'm a big John Lennon/ the Beatles fan.
Another thing that makes this cool is that my favorite director did a commercial for my favorite clothing store!
#thisisnotanadplacement
#theshirttoo
The drop of this commercial I completely did not expect, and was thoroughly pleased. Still I, like the other Andersonians, await his next feature length work. Thanks and Merry Christmas Wes.
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