The movies that mesmerised Wes Anderson as a child
Few directors can mesmerise with their movie-making quite like Wes Anderson can. The auteur has honed one of the most idiosyncratic and immersive styles in modern cinema, instantly recognisable for his unwavering commitment to symmetry, carefully considered colour palettes, and quirky costuming and set design.
It’s easy to lose yourself in the stories he shares on screen, in the pinks and blues of The Grand Budapest Hotel or in the stop-motion world of Isle of Dogs. But long before Anderson mastered the ability of mesmerisation himself, he was first taken in by the work of filmmaking giant Alfred Hitchcock, the first in an iconic sci-fi series and a comedy classic.
During a conversation with Interview Magazine, Anderson shared his love for Hitchcock’s films. The Psycho director was instrumental in Anderson’s discovery of the director’s role in movie-making. “I think the first director I was ever aware of was Alfred Hitchcock,” he began, “before I even understood the idea of a director.”
A young Anderson became aware of Hitchcock’s name through The Alfred Hitchcock Collection, deeming this “the first time I was aware that there’s a guy who is not in the movie who’s on the front of the box. He’s responsible. I loved those movies.”
“Well, they were the first films I took note of and thought, ‘This is interesting,’ and it was directed by this particular man,” he explained. An iconic auteur with a distinctive style of his own, it’s no surprise that Hitchcock was the figure who introduced Anderson to the concept of the director. The Psycho director remains a reference point for most contemporary directors decades on from his death.
Hitchcock’s films weren’t the only pictures that mesmerised Anderson at a young age. He went on to cite George Lucas’ 1977 sci-fi Star Wars and Blake Edwards’ 1963 film The Pink Panther as two films that mesmerised him even before he discovered Hitchcock.
With its cosmic world-building and special effects, it’s easy to see why Anderson was taken in by Star Wars at a young age. It was so mesmerising, in fact, that it spawned an entire film franchise. His love for The Pink Panther, on the other hand, had a young Anderson attempting to learn an entirely new language.
“Actually, the first movie I saw when I got to Paris was one of the Pink Panther movies,” he recalled, “I remember because I remember having to figure out how to say, ‘Un billet pour La Panthère Rose…”
