20 years into the future, the mayor of a Japanese city banishes all dogs to an isolated island after an outbreak of canine influenza. Wes Anderson returned to animated films after Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), once again with talking animals in the leads. The director was inspired by Kurosawa films and the Rankin/Bass animation from his childhood; Japanese culture gives the film its color, but at heart it’s a familiar Anderson adventure with his regular cast providing voices. Creative and amusing, but above all the movie feels like a curiosity one admires rather than adores.
2018-U.S.-Germany. Animated. 101 min. Color. Widescreen. Written and directed by Wes Anderson. Music: Alexandre Desplat. Voices of Bryan Cranston (Chief), Edward Norton (Rex), Bob Balaban (King), Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Greta Gerwig… Frances McDormand, Scarlett Johansson, Harvey Keitel, F. Murray Abraham, Yoko Ono, Tilda Swinton, Ken Watanabe, Fisher Stevens, Liev Schreiber, Roman Coppola, Anjelica Huston.
Trivia: Coppola and Jason Schwartzman contributed to the story.
Berlin: Best Director.
