The Royal Tenenbaums really showed me something interesting. In my own life at a very young age I always used to compare my academic success to that of my peers and they always used to perform better. However, now I am much better off than them as I am studying in cornell which is something this film also portrayed which is the fact that even if you are a genius at a young age you can still end up worse later on in your adulthood.

The Royal Tannenbaums was a story that was very different from what I was expecting. It strung together a cast of likable characters that had very different personalities and goals. It was centered around Royal Tannebaum trying to reconnect with the family he neglected for many years by pretending that he’s dying. Over the curse of the movie we see each of the characters has been dealing with some form of emotional strife and that each character handles this generally poorly int their own way. IT isn’t until Royal realizes the problem he has been on his family that his children start to finally come together. I found it amusing and sad to see how the characters dealt with their trauma and incredibly interesting how characters managed to eventually overcome their demons.

I have heard of this movie many times but have never seen it, so I was glad to watch this movie. Before watching the movie, I did not know that Royal was a name of a person; I thought it was an adjective. So upon learning this, I was interested to figure out if any qualities of Royal Tenenbaum made him special and “royal.” Royal Tenenbaum and Etheline had three children Chas, Margot, and Richie and then they separate. Despite the hardships of this situation, all three children are extraordinary as Chas is a math and business genius, Margot wins a grant for a play she wrote as a high school student and Richie is an artist and a tennis prodigy. However, with two decades of betrayal, failure, and disaster, a lot of the memories of the brilliance of the young Tenenbaums are erased one by one. Ironically, the cause of such separation is depicted to be Royal Tenenbaum, which I felt was ironic as this did not seem royal at all. However, watching this movie really led me to think about my own family as I have faced a lot of hardships growing up amidst my parents’ conflicts. Growing up and to this day, I have heard constants talks of divorce, and my family seems so disconnected and ununited. Other prevalent motifs shown throughout the movie, such as distrust and overprotection within the family was also somewhat comparable to my own past growing up and hence I could make a connection. To this day, my family seems so separated but the movie ends on a happier note that the family makes a reunion. I hope that one day, my own family can make a reunion as the Tenenbaum family did. Overall, I enjoyed watching this movie as I could connect on many levels of the story.

They experience the world from above. 

It is as though none of the Tennenbaum children feel quite real, hovering above reality. This experience of their distance from reality exists both for the viewer and for the characters themselves. Their exceptionality has raised them and, in doing so, it has left them lonely, directionless, and empty. They live as specters in the shadows of their former successes. Their brilliance serves as a double bind: they struggle to live with their talents and they struggle to live without their talents. Even further, they are exhausted, despite their stagnation. Their unhappiness seems abyssal and leads only to further narcissism and inwardness, searching for meaning only to further enclose themselves. This film called to mind one of my favorite books, J.D. Salinger’s Franny and Zooey. Both works concern the search for meaning in the wake of exceptionality, the overwhelming desire to escape oneself and to discover something higher, the existential crises that arise from suffocating interiors that threaten to swallow us whole. Most importantly, these works constitute the opening of a possibility of something beyond this interior struggle for survival.

The Royal Tenenbaums is a sometimes fun, sometimes sad, thought provoking movie with eccentric characters.  The movie centered around the Tenenbaum family, the father of which was Royal Tenenbaum.  Royal was completely self-centered, insensitive to his children, and an all-around bad father.   Royal did not realize, and probably would not have cared anyway, that the way Royal treated the kids would negatively affect them for many years to come.  At one point, Royal went to prison and was estranged from the family, but the psychological damage done to the children lasted.  After the children grew up and Royal realized the mess he had made, he looked to reconnect with the kids to make amends.  At times the movie was sad because the characters were so messed up that they did not even know how messed up they really were. What made the movie even more sad, was that the characters were so likeable. You were rooting for them to overcome their past and succeed.  Royal had limited success undoing the damage he had caused, but he did manage to get back into the lives of the children.  Royal secured himself a second chance at doing the right thing.  This is a gift we could all appreciate.  The movie made me think about my life and reflect on the choices I have made.  It also made me think about how one life can have a significant effect on the lives of others.  The Royal Tenenbaums really made me feel, think, and reflect.  I appreciate that in a movie.

Last week I was able to watch The Royal Tenenbaums and while watching I became deeply interested in the character of Chas Tenenbaum and his overall story. The movie itself was fantastic and full of life lessons but the one that struck greatly was the one about the single father who after losing his wife needed to keep his kids as safe as possible to the point of restricting their childhood. People would see this as wrong but when seen in context the whole act is completely understandable. Seeing this character grow from being so anxious about keeping his boys safe to the point of losing sight of what his children really need, to a father that spent quality time with his two boys (and forgave his father) was a gratifying experience. I really liked this character because it showed just how much trauma can affect your life and the life of those around you. It was amazing to see each character grow not only individually but as a family no matter how out of the ordinary the family was since the beginning. I really enjoyed this movie and would definitely watch it again.

This offbeat comedy is centered on a family. The family is eccentric and a bit dysfunctional, and each person had their own conflict. The most interesting character to me was Margot. Out of all the members, she was adopted and the only one not blood related. Royal made many slights during the movie at her status. When she mentioned that she’s never met Royal’s mother, he responded with “she wasn’t your real grandmother”. She was a secret smoker since age 12 and ran away from home when she was 14. No one knew where she went until she mentioned it to her nephews. Additionally, she has been married to a man who doesn’t even know her. She is closed off as a character, rarely smiling, and dressed in conservative clothing. For a character that smokes, drinks, and is promiscuous it was interesting to see her dressed in conservative outfits. She had the elegant country club look and yet her personality didn’t fit the role.

A lot went on in the film. It was wild from start to finish, making it more entertaining. I’ve never seen a Wes Anderson before so it was interesting to see one of his earlier works. While the plot of the movie was incredibly cliche, the aesthetics and acting in the film was on point. What really stuck out for me with the family bond that was emphasized throughout the plot. While the characters were eccentric in their own way, they came together as a family whenever one of them was hurt. They came together when the father was “dying” and when Richie tried to kill himself. Despite their differences, they were able to put things aside (for the most part) and be there for each other. For example, Etheline was crying over Royal’s “sickness” despite their rough relationship. On top of that, Chas is a very protective over his family, and while he didn’t have a great relationship with his father, he still showed some concerns for his father (when Royal fell from his bed).

Wes Anderson did an incredible job at beautifully portraying an eccentric family as a normal family with normal family conflicts and giving some of the characters a bit of a development. He showed that a family bond isn’t about being blood-related or not, but about the love and connection among the members that hold them together after years apart.

Last night, we watched the Royal Tenenbaums directed by Wes Anderson. I’d seen Wes Anderson films before, but I hadn’t seen his really early work. I was really surprised by how much his filming style has evolved, and what elements of his style that he’s chosen to preserve throughout his film career.

One aspect of his filming style that has only grown stronger is his use of colors to create this almost otherworldly atmosphere. The characters he creates are also otherworldly in a way. It’s interesting how he creates the same alien-like feeling to his worlds, but he does it in a very unconventional way. For example, there is a scene in the Royal Tenenbaums that discusses suicide. Although the scene is quite graphic and jarring, he doesn’t play very dramatic music and the characters don’t start bawling when they hear the news. His characters remain consistently quirky and consistent with who we’ve come to know over the course of the movie.

The movie showed me how we’ve come to associate certain emotions with certain elements in film and how weird it feels when we deviate from those elements. I’m looking forward to watching more of Wes Anderson’s films and gaining a deeper understanding of what else can make us seem “alien” even when we’re just being ourselves.