From the twenty-eighth through to the thirtieth of September, Netflix released four shorts by Wes Anderson, adapting writer Roald Dahl’s short stories for the screen. This event was highly unusual, as Anderson is mostly known for his feature films. I, as an avid enthusiast of the director, was more than excited to watch his new works. 

The four shorts are entitled The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, The Swan, The Rat Catcher and Poison, and are all acted by a group of A-List actors –  Benedict Cumberbatch, Ralph Fiennes, Dev Patel, Ben Kingsley, Richard Ayoade and Rupert Friend – who put on different roles in each short. The cinematography of these shorts is nothing short of (no pun intended) experimental: the intimate narration of the stories by the characters themselves, fluid, stage-like transitions between scenes, sets and backgrounds, and the actors’ constant breaking of the fourth wall all serve to create a sense akin to that of the original text being read and imagined by the reader in their own head.

In an interview with The Irish Times, Anderson mentioned that the movie being authentic to Roald Dahl’s narrative voice was a big issue for him, one he tried to figure out for ‘years and years’. He resolved the issue by making the characters, including the narrator, tell the story exactly how it was written by Dahl: something he succeeded at brilliantly. 

 

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar tells the story of a rich, dishonest gambler named Henry Sugar, who stumbles upon a manuscript about a man who could see without his eyes. This manuscript changes his life in the most unexpected way. 

The short is a true Anderson piece: quirky characters and costumes, symmetrical sets and pastel-coloured filters, dollhouse-like buildings and fun, and ornamented backgrounds are distinctly present in it. This particular short reminded me of Asteroid City, Anderson’s newest full-feature, released in July. This was the first of the four films I saw, and I was deeply impacted by the cinematographical choices taken by Anderson and the filmmaking team behind the short. The movie presents itself as a stage production, with movable backgrounds and, sometimes, full sets. In several scenes, costume and scene changes happen as the camera rolls.

One of my favourite things about this short is the use of immersive audio. Watching the film with headphones on was a pure delight! The characters, even off-screen, seem to be present and walk around your head, which really enhances the story. What a delightful little snack of a film!

 

The Swan

 

The Swan was unexpected. I thought it would be of the same wondrous vein as Henry Sugar, but oh how wrong I was! Anderson’s second short of the four was so bleak and utterly devastating to watch and left me with the pit-in-stomach type of sadness and a total loss for words. In a way, it reminded me of Netflix’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (2017-2019), if that series was less child-oriented and a lot more heart-wrenching. Maybe it is Lemony Snicket’s writing that is so similar to Roald Dahl’s, but there are certainly many similarities between them.

Technically, it is a great short: immersive audio is utilised in the best possible way, and Rupert Friend’s acting is captivating and, with the risk of sounding a little extreme, possibly genius. The set designs are delightful, once again teetering between a stage and film production. For this movie, Anderson goes back to his yellow pastel colour palette: the atmosphere of this short (like many other of his films) evokes a sense of the nostalgic past, somewhere simpler and more bearable, starkly contrasting with its depressing story. 

The Swan follows Peter Watson (Rupert Friend), a thirteen-year-old who gets taunted by two older, larger bullies. Narrated and acted by both the child and adult versions of Peter, the film is a powerful visual portrayal of lingering psychological trauma. Many of us can, to some extent, relate to Peter, which is what I think makes the film (and Dahl’s story) so great. While the situation depicted in the short is quite extreme, and I doubt many have even been close to experiencing this level of taunt; the hostile and unforgiving nature of it will resonate with many. 

I wish I hadn’t seen this short now, it really put me in a weird existential state. Then again, I don’t think I would have ever found a good time for it. It is a phenomenal little piece, not a treat or delight as Henry Sugar is, but more of an electric jolt to your stomach. Phenomenal, (and possibly my favourite short of the four).

 

The Rat Catcher

 

The Rat Catcher recounts a disturbing incident involving a rat capturer (Ralph Fiennes) and some townspeople (Rupert Friend and Richard Ayoade). It is quite different from the three other shorts – mainly as, while it maintains this sense of intimacy between the characters and the watcher, the scenes and sets do not blend into each other. Instead, the short has sharp cuts between scenes, creating the dry, deadpan comedic atmosphere Anderson is well-known for.  

It is also a horror short, perfect for Halloween. As the tension in the story grows, the portrayal of the action becomes more and more dramatic, imitating stereotypically theatrical silent horror films, complete with dramatic negative fill lighting, slanted angles (almost a Dutch tilt) and suspenseful background ‘music’ (I am reluctant to call it a soundtrack). These filmmaking techniques perfectly work to create an unsettling atmosphere, so unlike what Anderson has ever produced before and yet so fitting. 

I am particularly drawn to the props and details of the film – some of the props are to be imagined, which I found worked well with the concept of ‘visualising a novel’: the film quite literally leaves some details up to the imagination of the audience, the way a written story would. I thought it to be a creative way to preserve that ‘written story’ feeling, even though the short had the least experimental videography out of the four. 

The animation in the short is very endearing, reminiscent of Fantastic Mr. Fox, one of my favourites from the director. I wish there was more of it, but its use is so effective I can excuse how little of it there is! The very last line of the movie left me speechless as well. You really have to pay attention to Anderson’s detailing. Quoting Ava Bolger’s wonderful review of Asteroid City, ‘there is nothing accidental in the stylized way [Anderson] orders the worlds that he creates’. Time and time again, Anderson proves his filmmaking genius – and The Rat Catcher is no exception.

 

Poison

 

Poison, the story of a daring attempt to quickly rid a man (Benedict Cumberbatch) of a dangerous snake, reminded me of The Private Dining Room of the Police Commissioner (Sights and Smells) – by Roebuck Wright, the third short story in Anderson’s movie The French Dispatch so much, that finding similarities was pretty much the only thing I could concentrate on while watching the short. From the colour scheme to the way the interiors and characters’ movements between these spaces are designed, the short really feels like something straight out of his 2021 feature film. 

While the short follows the same quirky pattern of intimacy and fluidity, the story feels less fantastical and more grounded in a possible reality. The film undeniably retains some Anderson-esque playfulness and wonder to it, however, in some ways, it felt more like a movie inspired by the director rather than made by him. Generally, I thought watching it was a completely different experience from the first three shorts, and I’m not sure I fully enjoyed it. I like it because it reminds me of Anderson’s feature films, and Dev Patel is a wonderful narrator. However, I do not see how well it fits in with the rest of the collection, particularly considering the bizarre and wondrous themes present in the rest of it. 

 

To watch or not to watch?

Anderson is a master at his craft, and these shorts only prove his prowess. There is no other director like him: he is undeniably an auteur, a unique voice in contemporary cinema. I believe these shorts utilise some of his greatest techniques, a brilliant mashup of what has been done before in his feature films, reduced to enjoyable bite-sized stories. Whether you are a die-hard fan of Anderson’s work, or you have never seen any of his works, I highly recommend watching these shorts. They are both a great introduction as well as a celebration of Anderson’s filmmaking genius and, if you ask me, some of his best work yet!

 

Words: Agne Kniuraite