The Life Aquatic (2004)

Last month I picked up the DVD of Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic. The clincher was the price ($5) relative to the distributer (Criterion).

Back in the early 2000s, I paid $70 for the Criterion edition of David Lean's Brief Encounter (1945), so mine was an act of revenge. Like it was revenge for Captain Steve Zissou in his mission to destroy the Jaguar Shark who ate his first-mate, only Steve learns his lesson by film's end. With the Jaguar Shark located, he leaves it to its beauty, though Steve's work on the patriarchy continues (unconsciously).

I first saw Life Aquatic when it was in the theatres. On second viewing, I was shocked to learn how little I remembered of it. Seu Jorge singing Bowie songs in Portuguese was memorable, as was Willem Dafoe running with a spear gun and Owen Wilson's first scenes, which stand as a masterclass in understatement. Other than that, this children's tale for grown-ups was a new movie for me.

The picture up top is from the scene where Team Zissou attacks the pirate fort on Ping Island and recovers their stolen possessions, which includes Ned's inheritance, locked in Zissou's safe. Zissou declares Ned's inheritance saved, then, after a few turns of the lock, opens the door, where we see that the back of the safe has been torched out. You could drive a truck through that metaphor. A toy truck, of course.