The American filmmaker is one of the guests at the 15th edition of the Lyon cinephile meeting. On the occasion of his visit to the capital of Gaul, fans were able to attend a screening of his films. They will also be able to extend the pleasure in a permanent exhibition at the Cinema and Miniature Museum of Vieux-Lyon.
It’s a bit like Lyon’s Hollywood Boulevard, but much smaller. Rue du Premier-Film, nestled in the 8th arrondissement, has seen the biggest names in cinema pass by. Every fall, on the occasion of the Lumière Festival (October 14 to 22), the invited directors inaugurate their copper plaque on the filmmakers’ wall. A ceremony that Wes Anderson took part in in front of hundreds of fans.
Improvisation at the service of fantasy
The Tanenbaum family, Isle of Dogs, The Grand Budapest Hotel, en just eleven films, Wes Anderson has managed to impose his extravagant and poetic universe. Obsessed by symmetry in the image, pastel colors, details galore, and characters who seem stuck in childhood, the filmmaker has his fans.
Early fans wouldn’t have missed a meeting with this image esthete for anything in the world. “He’s a creator, a touch that we identify immediately,” reports an amateur in the crowd. “For me it’s fantasy and a universe that’s ultra-different from what we usually see, it has its own personal touch and that’s why we’re here,” rejoices another spectator.
The filmmaker whose latest film (Asteroid City) is currently on screens, took advantage of his visit to the Lumière festival in Lyon to discuss his creative process. If the final result seems calculated to the millimeter, it is nevertheless inspiration and dreams that guide his imagination. “Every time I start a film, ideas come to me from anywhere, from completely unexpected places. I have very different influences which sometimes intertwine. I never know in advance what will be my film is a discovery each time, a creature which will have its own life”, Wes Anderson explains to the audience.
A permanent space dedicated to Wes Anderson
In addition to presenting his new medium-length film,The Wonderful Story of Henry SugarWes Anderson also inaugurated a permanent exhibition dedicated to him at the Musée Cinéma et Miniature du Vieux-Lyon.
This new space presents several original pieces and accessories from his films, including certain models designed by Simon Vaïsse, his head of miniature sets since Grand Budapest Hotel. “People think I play a toy train but it’s a real job. For example, to make the Asteroid City train, it took us almost a year for a few seconds of view in the film”, he explains.
The exhibition is above all a tribute to all the shadowy artisans who make Wes Anderson’s cinema magical. Artisans that the filmmaker considers as members of his own family. “It’s an exchange that we don’t necessarily have with other directors,” confides the decorator again.
The fifteenth edition of the Lyon Light Festival continues until October 22, 2023