Presence

I saw The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. As with other Anderson escapades, I enjoyed the show, and about eight to twelve hours later, found myself unable to dislodge the story or characters from my mind.

Some thoughts: Steve Zissou is a child in man's clothing. His entire world is the stuff of any eleven-and-a-half year olds' dreams: he's a famous oceanographer, adventurer and film-maker, living in a miniature world where his word is gospel, there's always an intern on hand to mix you a drink, and females are gratuitously bereft of any upper-body coverage. He's got his own submarine, helicopter and island. And of course, everybody get's a gun. He crusies the high seas with his crew, searching out new and exciting life forms, returning home to fame, glory and the envy of his peers. Ned is likewise psychologically trapped somewhere near puberty. He shows up looking for a father in full Air Kentucky ("we hub out of Louisville") regalia, having followed his childhood dream and become a pilot.

The movie is replete with other grownups acting like children. When Steve deigns to choose Klaus for the A Team in the assualt on the pirate stronghold (PIRATES!), he responds, "Thanks a lot for not picking me," and suddenly we're back on the soccer field at recess, kicking the dirt as we watch the other kids play.

What I like best about the movie, is that Anderson, when presented with the need to develop a context in which oceanographer Steve Zissou plys his trade, had two choices: he could either meticulously research and portray marine life as it actually exists, as any serious scientist would do, or he could create a fantastic world of crayon pony fish and jaguar sharks, products not of the laboratory, but of the overactive imagination of a child. And he chose the latter.