A usual ensemble joins together for another Wes Anderson movie. Some say that his best films are far behind him. Gone is BOTTLE ROCKET, THE ROYAL TENNENBAUMS and the MOONRISE KINGDOM. Other say he is too twee, too self referencing and so has become staid. A few are awaiting, with gleeful eyes, ASTROID CITY, where the grass is not green nor girls pretty but it is being touted as a return to form. I disagree. Wes Anderson is a writer and then director, whose imagined wordls are both compelling and choatic in equally Swiftian measure. HMV, having the luck of getting the rights to the UK release, have choosen his last film, THE FRENCH DISPATCH, to pump out. It is full of his usual whimsy but also has an eye on the American perspective of Europe in the 60s. A time of Pan Am, American investment and a word on the streets from papaers far and wide. The era of President Kennedy and the hope of that word called Freedom. A fist up to the empire across an iron curtain, seizing the souls and assets of any country not in a pact.

What HMV give us is a 1080p rendition of the film. The story is well a collection of stories. The final issue of an American magazine is to be published. We are in a French city and the staff are all hurriedly trying to get in copy and find ways out of their predicament. There are nods to Tati, French New Wave and the strangeness of two divided continents. This is all plainly seen on screen with a craft that shouldnt be mistaken. However the kicker is, and this seems to be compelled online by many, is that HMV have given us the film and little more. No extras. A lovely transfer that will no doubt be upscaled but nothing else to add to it. The suggestions that Criterion will release this might seem a little hopeful. Three years is the wait time for these sort of releases and I cant see that happening. They will do a far better job but, in the words of a dragon

‘Just be thankful you have that (this disc)’

https://hmv.com/store/film-tv/blu-ray/the-french-dispatch-(hmv-exclusive)