occasionally this happens
Last night I watched a major American studio film, produced by Disney in fact. And it was great. The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou was moving, a two hour exploration of the ways one can lose their idealism upon learning how their heroes are truly the product of stagecraft and theater. It's the story of a man, Steve Zissou, who orchestrated his own rise to fame until he got to the point that he no longer could see the difference between himself and the theater he had created. And this is where the movie shines, it doesn't make the situation into a morality tale of how one should simply and stupidly just be true to oneself, it instead celebrates the blurry separation between one's self and the way one is seen to be by others. It's a complex, sophisticated, sad and funny tale, definitely my favorite Wes Anderson film so far.