Wes Anderson: 10 Film Scenes To Admire

6. Let Me Tell You About My Boat - The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou

Whenever people say that they're not a fan of Wes Anderson, chances are it's this film that they have in mind. Although it has become something of a cult classic, 'The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou' showed the director at his most self-indulgent; its plot slooowly plodding along and his characters, never the most expressive of people to begin with, mumbling at each other in an almost anaesthetised drawl. However, it is kept afloat by an incredible sequence in which offbeat oceanographer Zissou (Bill Murray) introduces us to his beloved boat, the Belafonte. ''Let me tell you about my boat'', he says, as a curtain lifts and reveals a full-size model standing majestically behind him. As though opening the door to a dolls house (a comparison that would reappear in the opening shot of Moonrise Kingdom), the camera glides through each room with Zissou providing a running commentary on his crew as we pass them. There's even a spot of stop-motion animation, with a couple of 'research dolphins' shown swimming underneath the boat. But then, with wonderful theatricality, Zissou's narration is interrupted by Ned (Owen Wilson), the lights go out and the model is cast into darkness once more.