Isle of Dogs (2018)

There is something about Wes Anderson’s filmmaking that ensnares me. I cannot say if it is his meticulous method, his whimsical and dry humor, or his ability to tell parable-like stories about human nature; whatever the case, his unique technique makes me love every single one of his films – even the lesser ones are still highly enjoyable. 

Isle of Dogs is no different in that respect; the film's style has the same overtly charming effect on me as all of Anderson's other works. I reveled in the experience of seeing one of his films in a theater for the first time. My question going into the film was what Isle of Dogs would do to make itself different from the other films in Anderson's catalog and whether those differences would benefit or hinder the  final product.

The biggest difference is the setting; Anderson has not set any of his films in the Far East yet, the closest being The Darjeeling Limited in India. Placing the story in Japan with many Japanese characters results in some interesting choices for the film aesthetically, as it references Anderson's love of Japanese cinema by imitating some of its style. He also decides to render all Japanese-speaking characters with subtitles, translators, or without any translation into English at all. This decision was hit-or-miss for me, but in retrospect it plays on the fallibility of translation, which with the westernized portrayal of Japan – using only the most obvious of cultural markers instead of a thorough and deep homage to the culture – becomes a major theme of the whole film. It is almost like Anderson wants the cultural and linguistic aspects of the film that a western audience might not understand to become lost in the translation between East and West. Such emphasis is subtle but present and deepens those choices the film makes.

Another unique point to the rest of Anderson’s filmography is the animation. While he has used stop-motion for an entire film before in 2009’s Fantastic Mr. Fox, the style here is markedly different. Fantastic Mr. Fox had a less jarring feel to it, likely because of the emphasis on warmer earth tones for its color palette. Isle of Dogs is much starker and almost dull; it uses predominantly a parchment-like grey, red, black, and yellow, painting a bleak picture of the film’s world. This is quite fair, as the government of a Japanese city has banned all dogs to an existence on Trash Island (which is exactly what it sounds like).

When looking at the film’s canine characters, all these decisions makes a lot more sense. Anderson uses these animals to tell a story about human nature in a way only he could while also making a sincere homage to the special place dogs hold in humanity’s heart. There is little culpability on their parts, and they all exhibit a warmth and tenderness, however hard their exteriors might seem; in fact, they appear to mirror humanity more than the human characters in the film due to the use of subtitles on nearly every human character. One prominent example of the canines’ human-like side is early in the film when two packs of dogs are fighting over a pile of garbage, and they suddenly stop to make sure that they are fighting over something worthwhile; it was a bit ridiculous in a way only Anderson can get away with. The voice acting behind them ties incredibly well into the script, with each actor seemingly having their lines written just for them; that becomes less surprising when seeing that every one of the main pack we follow, save Bryan Cranston as their leader, is an Anderson regular (Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Edward Norton, and Bob Balaban), but it is not any less enjoyable.

Whether or not you will like or love Isle of Dogs will depend on your opinion of Wes Anderson as a filmmaker. If you find his work too high-brow or pretentious, this will not change your mind one bit. On the other hand, if like me you find the visuals as delectable as the best Mendel’s pastry you can dream up and the writing as hilarious as any comedy classic, then I cannot imagine how you could be disappointed. There are some odd choices made, but for the most part Isle of Dogs is another beautiful, warm-hearted, and charming addition to the filmography of one of the most unique directors working today.

My recommendation: If you like Anderson, you will enjoy this.

My grade: 91/100