Naet posted:

I generally like Jacobin but I don't fully understand this review. Jones's critique resembles the common criticism of Wes Anderson: he makes gilded, all-style-no-substance, overly 'Wes Anderson-y' films. She ascribes a lot of meaninglessness to the film: the nesting narration, the different appearances of young/old Gustave and Zero, the casual nature of death, the idea/existence of nostalgia, etc. She assumes Anderson made aesthetic choices with no purpose. Maybe he did, but I'm not convinced by Jones's argument. It's a surprisingly shallow and superficial reading which treats everything presented on screen as literal and true.

I'd like to see Jones engage with other readings of the film beside this awfully lame straw man:


That sounds more like a criticism of the Wes Anderson fanboy/fangirl type, which I suppose is fair but shouldn't necessarily reflect on the movie.