The Royal Tenenbaums: The Quirky Reality of the Human Experience

Wes Anderson is one of my favourite filmmakers and has such a distinctive style of direction. His standout effort in my opinion is the Royal Tenenbaums, it is one of my favourite films of all time and perfectly encapsulates the magic of Anderson. Wes Anderson is known for his quirky, offbeat stories and characters but there is a lot of heart in his films, especially this one. I adore this film and have watched it countless times, I think it is a must watch piece of cinema and cannot recommend it more; if you have enjoyed any of Anderson’s work then I will bet anything on you enjoying, if not loving this effort. His attitude to love is handled with so much care and admiration and I greatly appreciate the handling of the subject of it in this film and how it has impacted me in my own life.

The human experience and the reflection of that in art is a thing of wonder and is such a valuable part of my life. This film, to me, underlines the complicated, flawed nature of love and the human experience. I revisited this film recently and it gave me a different perspective on the film and my own understanding of myself. It made me realise just how much love impacts this movie. Everyone in this film is searching for love and acceptance. The talent of the kids is an effort to seek acceptance from their dad and when that fails, so naturally does their interest and output; they are all in a rut from seeking the wrong thing and not being true to their feelings. Royal has realised a life that has left him with many regrets and left him a lonely man. All the characters in this film are lonely and are crying out for help in different ways. It gave me a lot of comfort in a strange way. There is a lot of unique beauty in the different relationships and the small unique things that come with them. The scene of Margot and Richie on the bus and the contrast of the shaving scene shows that something incredibly beautiful and happy can at the same time be heart-breaking and painful. Love is not a simple thing and often there will be pain associated, but it is worth it for those moments and how special they can be. Royal is a much happier man when he stops thinking about himself and puts others that he cares about first. The visual elegance of this film and those complicated but very real and pure relationships, for me, makes this one of the best love films around. It is about love in any way, not just romantic, or platonic, but all kinds of relationships and the importance of reaching out to and opening up about how you feel to those that you care about. I was taught this lesson and the benefits of communicating by my most recent partner and my life is all the better for it. It has also brought about sadness and pain, but there is beauty in sadness too and it does not take away any of the actual beauty and relationships you may have gained along the way. Royal’s funeral is the perfect visualisation of this. He gained the love of his family back, but it was taken away from him in an unexpected way. This would have been difficult for them and especially for Chassie who had only just reconnected with his dad but was worth it for the experiences that they had together in the time the film is set. Arguably they are all in a better place for it. That is the lesson I take from the film, there is beauty in all forms of human emotion, and it is worth going out there and making memories and bonds and reaching out to those that are important to you, even if there may be heartbreak and pain later down the line, because it will all be worth it for the moments of wonder.

I like to think of this film like a seminal album. In music there are certain ground-breaking albums that define a genre and are revered as timeless, must listens. Albums such as Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures, Kendrick’s to Pimp a Butterfly, Pixies’ Doolittle, The Velvet Underground & Nico’s album and The Strokes’ Is This It are hailed as highly influential works that sounded like nothing else at the time and have gone on to be highly influential on future artists. This film is just like that for me, I struggle to think of another film before this (besides maybe some of Anderson’s earlier efforts) that this film can be compared to. It is a magical outlier in the genre that highlights the enchantment of film. The individual vision of a director and how unique yet familiar their work can feel is something beautiful and Wes is a true master of this art. To keep the music comparison going, this film feels like a musical artist that has truly found their sound. You know when you hear an album by an artist and the vision is there, but the execution is not quite at the same level? This is the film equivalent of the perfection of a sound. I watched all of Wes’ work in chronological order and seeing the growth from film to film was so enjoyable. All his films up to this point had been enjoyable but had been growing to a point. Rushmore is so close to being there, but Wes truly perfects his craft with this one.

Keeping on the theme of music, I think that this has some of the best use of music in any film out there. Any time I hear this film I cannot help but think of the ‘These Days’ scene and the ‘Needle in the Hay scene; and vice versa when I listen to those songs I am immediately transported to those scenes. The needle drop for the Nico ‘These Days’ moment is breath-taking, when all other sounds drops out for a few seconds before the music starts, the hairs on my neck stand up every time I watch it. It is such a beautiful moment, the reuniting of Margot and Richie and the unspoken bond between the two is perfectly encapsulated by the beauty of the song. The music says everything needed. This is then arguably topped by the Needle in the Hay scene. Elliot Smith is a painfully beautiful musician and the agony present in that songs perfectly reflects Richie’s emotional state in the moment, the montage of Margot before he turns the razor on his wrists is soul crushing. The choppy editing and cutting of sound are so visually striking that it is one of the most powerful and devastating moments in cinema. For two such contrasting yet equally powerful moments to be present in the same film is so rare and makes this film even more powerful.

Anderson creates these wacky characters and worlds but ensures to make the characters grounded and relatable. There is no gimmick to the gimmicks and absurdity of the characters and the stories; the comedy comes from well written scripts and the performances. The characters and their eccentricities are treated as completely normal in the world that they exist in. It also helps that The Royal Tenenbaums is probably the most reserved of the typical ‘Anderson style’ films. This makes the characters feel like they could live in the real world very easily. The Tenenbaum family are fleshed out and have real flaws and obvious character arcs throughout the run time. Even the characters you could label as comic relief such as Eli are well written and fleshed out characters with flaws and issues that you sympathise with.

I think Wes is a wonderful film maker and his stories often carry a beauty that gets forgotten about or lives in the shadow of his visual craft. This story looks amazing, sure, but the content is heart-warming and heart-breaking in equal measure. It covers all the different feelings that come with love and the consequences it has on ever aspect of our lives. I think Wes and not forgetting Owen Wilson, are some of the most talented writers and filmmakers of this century. Love and all its forms are often the focus of Anderson’s films, but you will not find a better representation of it than the Royal Tenenbaums. This is truly the moment he perfected his craft and created one of the most essential films to exist.