Among a series of lucky shorts on Netflix and three films in five years, for Wes Anderson is a productive period. But, coming to the 13th movie, what does the Houston filmmaker have to tell us? We are about to find out: after a recent Cannes debut, The Phoenician plot premiered in Italian theatres on 28 May for Universal Pictures International Italy and in the rest of the world on 30; from 22 December it was on Sky and NOW.
La trama fenicia: sogni e bombe a mano
Zsa-Zsa Korda is many men in one: a businessman losco with hands in pasta everywhere, a father as prolific as absent, a serial survivor to attacks and aerial accidents, a cook and laundromats tried. More than anything, a man with a plot, a complex network of plans and machines destined to forever change the face of Phoenicia. But the enemies of Zsa-Zsa never stop plotting, and count on the failure of this plan to send it clearly legs to the air: the businessman will have to recruit his firstborn Liesel, locked up for years in the convent, and embark on a tour of emergency meetings with his partners around the Phoenician in a last, extreme bet.
Per le strade della Fenicia
If the previous Asteroid City was an extremely static film, which trapped its characters in a sterile location to force them to contemplate their inadequacies and idiosyncrasies, The Phoenician plot is a road movie that moves seamlessly from one location to another, from one character to another, from one surreal situation to another. A series of paintings, in short, in a more cohesive and satisfying frame than the delightful mannerism of The French Dispatch and, above all, with a conclusion that tries to bring back to a unitary vision.
La trama fenicia: il solito, per favore
I mean, Phoenician plot is a Wes Anderson movie. Which is nice, because all the elements we love about the work of the Texan director are, from the apolline composition of the frames to the pans and dolly, from the sweet extravagance of the characters to the comedy a bit deadpan. Team winning doesn’t change. However, here is little more, little variation of the usual formula. Which for someone (underwritten included) is a little sin, because with Asteroid City Anderson had begun to look at this repetition of the formula with a somewhat critical and very delicate eye, giving us a first look on a possible new phase, more advanced than its work.
Il cast
Benicio Del Toro is Anatoly “Zsa-Zsa” Korda, an unstoppable businessman with a plan for the Phoenician region. My Threapleton is Liesel Korda, the eldest daughter of Zsa-Zsa retreated into the convent, with which man is trying to reunite. Michael Cera is the Bjorn Lund, a seemingly mild preceptor who is promoted on the field to secretary and bearer of hand bombs, while Benedict Cumberbatch plays Nubar, the shady half-brother of Zsa-Zsa. As Wes Anderson has now accustomed us, minor roles are also played by Hollywood dives and frequent collaborators: from the cousin Hilda of Scarlett Johannson to Prince Farouk of Riz Ahmed, from a neurotic Jeffrey Wright to a graceful and fun Richard Aoyade, passing through Bryan Cranston, Tom Hanks and many other cameos that we do not want to ruin. Surely, there is for everyone.
Article Phoenician plot is exactly what we expected (in good and evil) – The review comes from Dituttounpop.it.
