Isle of Dogs
Wes Anderson has been working on another level of maturity in theme and filmmaking style since his profoundly underrated “The Darjeeling Limited” in 2007, and his second foray into stop-motion animation, “Isle of Dogs,” only confirms that feeling for me. I never expected to be saying that, but here we are. Anderson has always been a singularly-pleasing filmmaker to watch, but his melding of story and style of late has been pretty exciting to watch- I cannot wait to see where he takes us next.
Before I go further, I’d like to go ahead and say some things about the criticisms of appropriation and insensitivity against Anderson for his depiction of Japan, and Japanese culture. I don’t know why Anderson chose Japan as the setting of this film (although I have read that he was inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s work), although I would imagine it has much to do with the fact that it’s visually striking, and culturally unique compared to America, and he can define it in quick and easy broad strokes. I don’t think anything he does here is out of insensitivity towards the country, but rather for a unique setting for his story of talking dogs, while using historical ideas to make a larger point he has in mind. We’ll get to that, though. Of course, this is coming from a 40-year-old American who’s never stepped out of the country, so take it for what you will. Now, back to the movie.
The story by Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman and Kunichi Nomura that forms the basis of Anderson’s screenplay sets the stage in the early moments, telling a fable of the Kobayashi dynasty who, long ago, took control of Japan, and looked to banish all dogs from the country before a young boy samurai beheaded him, rescuing dogs, and earning their loyalty and subservience for all-time. Cut to a dystopian future where, in the city of Nagasaki, where its mayor, Kobayashi (Kunichi Nomura), is dealing with an epidemic of Dog Flu, Red Snout, and overpopulation of dogs like his ancestors would have- banishment to a nearby trash island off the coast, starting with Spots, the family guard dog who has been looking over his ward, his nephew Atari (Koyu Rankin), and has come down with symptoms of the two diseases. In a matter of months, more and more dogs from Nagasaki are sent to trash island, and we see what life on the island is like for the dogs there as we intercut with the scene in Nagasaki, as more and more, the plan Kobayashi has in place for the dog-less city comes together. Meanwhile, resistance resides in people like Tracy Walker (Greta Gerwig), an exchange student who sees something fishy in Kobayashi’s anti-dog platform, and young Atari, who actually flies a small plane to trash island in hopes of finding Spots, and there finds assistance in the likes of dogs like Rex (Edward Norton), King (Bob Balaban), Boss (Bill Murray), Duke (Jeff Goldblum) and Chief (Bryan Cranston), a stray who never really took to humans, but reluctantly agrees to help Atari anyway.
What flattened me as I watched “Isle of Dogs” is not necessarily to setting of Japan, and the controversy that has arisen in some pockets because of it, nor was it the remarkable stop-motion animation, which I expected he and his collaborators to nail after his 2009 film, “Fantastic Mr. Fox.” The thing that struck me the most is how Anderson seems to have made a “family film” (although the film is PG-13 for a reason) that has political ideas on its mind. The adventure of Atari and the dogs looking for Spots makes up the emotional backbone of the film, but it’s the uncovering of Kobayashi’s intentions on the mainland that make the film intellectually stimulating. If you wanted to find a way into a political discussion with your children about political corruption, autocratic regimes, the dark places that long-held bigotry and prejudice can take you, and the nature of propaganda, “Isle of Dogs” is a remarkably good primer, and the way Anderson makes this all feel like it belongs in the same movie without really hitting us over the head with it is kind of impressive. I never really expected this when I went into “Isle of Dogs,” but holy crap, am I grateful I got it from this film. It makes “Isle of Dogs” something much more than just an animated adventure story, and shows a continued strength in Anderson’s vision that I feel like he lands every punch he’s trying to make with this story.
It’s kind of surreal to me that Anderson has been making films for more than half my life, at this point. (“Bottle Rocket” came out in 1996.) I still feel like he’s a young filmmaker, but he’s really grown since the early days of “Rushmore” and “The Royal Tenenbaums.” But his approach to his craft remains as rich and detailed and idiosyncratic as it was back then, and he’s been putting it into the service of stories that go into deeper emotional territory as he goes along, with “Isle of Dogs” feeling like an important landmark in that. He continues his study in absurd, dry humor while also touching on deeper ideas and emotional truths, usually set to a wonderful score by Alexandre Desplat. This movie feels like one of his finest, and I cannot wait to see where he goes from here.
