Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Aquatic
Image hosted by Photobucket.comThe DVD sat on the shelf, dusty and hidden underneath discs like American Wedding and Torque for a little over a month before I finally mustered enough TV time to actually watch it. Now, I'm sorry I didn't watch it sooner. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou made me laugh so hard that juice almost squirted out of my nose; and cried so hard that I just couldn't stop myself from violently shaking with grief, admiration and heartdrain. I loved how the film touched on the life of a Jacques Cousteau-esque oceanographer named Steve Zissou, his exploits, rise to fame and imminent decline, plus a killer soundtrack. I also especially love how Bill Murray and Owen Wilson portray their respective characters and their short-lived relationship. The production design is vividly subdued, very theatre-looking with its doll-house like cross-section set of the Belafonte and unpretentiously fake underwater scenes. I think I'm at that age where people get taken by quiet, quirky and interesting films like this.