Wes Anderson’s latest film, The Phoenician Scheme, had its world premiere at Cannes recently ahead of its theatrical release later this month. As a certified Wes Anderson Liker, I can’t wait to see it. But like much of Anderson’s work, it’s been met with the dismissal that it’s just another Wes Andersonmovie, and that if you’ve seen one of his films, you’ve seen them all.
I’m on the record as disagreeing with that broad critique, but it hits on part of why I find Anderson compelling: in each of his films, he’s exploring similar themes with a distinct, but ever-evolving, style. Though The Royal Tenenbaums is set in a wildly different milieu than Asteroid City, both films are recognizably his from an aesthetic standpoint, and both dig deep into themes of grief and love. The mediums may change — as when Anderson has worked in stop motion animation (Fantastic Mr. Fox, Isle of Dogs) and short film (The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, Hotel Chevalier) — but the style and thematic concerns recur.
It has me wondering: does gaming have a Wes Anderson? Is the games industry capable of producing one? And if not, why not?
Gaming’s Auteurs
Gaming has always had important figures, but it hasn’t always had auteurs in the same way that movies do. Game productions are large and sprawling, and while a film director can have an opinion on everything that goes on screen, it’s much more difficult for a game director to have a full grasp on everything that makes a game work. If you’re promoted to creative director from an art or narrative background, you likely won’t have strong feelings about the minutiae of code. Movies have many moving parts, too. But, in games, some of the most significant pieces are invisible (or far too technical for someone from another specialty to understand).
This was abundantly clear to me when I covered theGame Developers Conferencethis year. I know games well, and other journalists have gone on to work in game development, but I was completely out of my depth during technical talks.
So, while the triple-A scene does have some auteurs, the most personal projects tend to be made by indie developers who, by virtue of the team’s size, have much more leeway to imprint their unique stamp on the project.Half Mermaid’s Sam Barlowhas now made three FMV games that task players with searching troves of video clips to find hidden secrets.Cosmo D, one of my personal favorite developers, has established a surreal, but incredibly specific brand for himself as the creator of theOff-Peak universe. Edmund McMillen’s games (Super Meat Boy,The Binding of Isaac,The Legend of Bum-Bo, and the upcoming Mewgenics) are often difficult, and always gross. Davey Wreden’s work, likeThe Stanley Parableand The Beginner’s Guide, typically has a meta-narrative layer.
The Fantastic Financing Of Mr. Fox
The problem with comparing indie devs to Wes Anderson is that they aren’t working with nearly as much money. Though Anderson is often seen as an independent filmmaker, he’s never made a feature outside the Hollywood system. In fact, the lowest budget he’s ever had for a feature was his debut, Bottle Rocket — and that was still working with $5 million. His films areartisticallyindependent; you never feel that the studio is interfering with his vision. But the fact that he has studio backing makes him pretty different from an indie developer like, say, Eric Barone, who spent years makingStardew Valleywithout funding.
Hideo Kojima might be the closest analog to Wes Anderson. Like Anderson, Kojima has been making work with a recognizable style and recurring themes for decades.Metal Gear Solid, released in 1998, is recognizable as Kojima andDeath Stranding 2: On the Beach, set to launch next month, is, too. With Death Stranding, Kojima (like Anderson) established a troupe of actors he’s reused on projects going forward — though, because we’re talking about video games, the next project is a sequel. Norman Reedus and Troy Baker are returning in Death Stranding 2, as is Lea Seydoux, a Wes Anderson regular.
The main difference I see here is also funding. Kojima makes blockbuster games. They’re weirder than most, sure, but they’re still triple-A tentpoles with trailers that have enjoyed prime real estate at E3 andThe Game Awards. Anderson is a well-known and well-respected filmmaker, but he’s never made anything with a budget higher than The Life Aquatic’s $50 million. That’s mid-budget in Hollywood.
The truth is, gaming having its own Wes Anderson will require the revival of double-A games, projects that have enough financial backing to go big but aren’t so risky that the rough edges have to be sanded off.Clair Obscur: Expedition 33is a Wes Anderson-y game by that conception. I hope Sandfall Interactive’s success paves the way for it to make more games, and for other studios to make games at that scale, too.
With that in mind, the closest match in the current landscape may be Sam Lake. The Finnish writer has worked atRemedy Entertainmentsince the ’90s, playing key creative roles on theMax PayneandAlan Wakegames, plusQuantum BreakandControl. He served as creative director onAlan Wake 2— considered by many the studio’s magnum opus — Quantum Break, andAlan Wake’s American Nightmare. Remedy’s games are cult hits, not blockbusters, that nonetheless boast triple-A production value. Similar thematic concerns and aesthetic ideas run through Remedy’s games, with an interest in the artifice of storytelling explored through the implementation of FMV footage within the game’s world.
Lake also appears in many of his projects. He’s the face of Max Payne and Alan Wake 2’s Alex Casey. That puts him in a lineage with Hollywood greats like Alfred Hitchcock, M. Night Shyamalan, and Quentin Tarrantino. So, he may not be a perfect match for Wes Anderson, but he’s undeniably an auteur.
