CNN Remakes the SOTU as a Wes Anderson Film

Anneliese Mahoney — Tue, 12 Jan 2016 15:34:55 +0000

Image courtesy of [Marius Strom via Flickr]

Are you both a Wes Anderson fan, and a political junkie? Well in that case, I have something for you: a short version of the State of the Union if it were directed by Wes Anderson, courtesy of CNN.

Wes Anderson is a very decorated director, who directed movies such as “The Royal Tenenbaums,” “Moonrise Kingdom,” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” His style is distinctive–his movies feature saturated colors, symmetrical scenes, silly dialogue delivered in a straight manner, a narrator, handwritten notes–among many other markers. In fact, it’s distinctive enough that it lends itself to parody quite well–for example, here’s SNL’s take on his directing style, but applied to a horror film.

So in terms of paying homage to/parodying Anderson’s style, CNN hit the nail on the head. I do have to say, sometimes it does seem as though CNN has a little too much fun with the technology that it has at its disposal. Remember the time that it brought a hologram of will.i.am to the 2008 election day results coverage? Or the time that it took an utterly unnecessary approach to explaining how the Iowa caucus works, and even Anderson Cooper realized how ridiculous the entire thing was?

But this take on the State of the Union–tonight will be Obama’s last–was a fun way to generate some buzz before the big event. CNN explained its motivations on Youtube, saying that “With all the tradition, pomp and quirks, the State of the Union Address is straight out of a Wes Anderson movie.” Additionally, an article that accompanied the video explained:

These consistent attributes of the speech — including the familiar faces who take part each year, the decor of the historic Capitol building and the ongoing clash of old traditions with new technologies — make it a prime setting to borrow a few tricks from filmmaker Wes Anderson, to whom the video above pays grateful homage.

The video was posted late Sunday night and has been making the rounds of the internet, to applause from many. Unfortunately, however, the SOTU probably won’t feature any dancing like this:

But kudos to CNN for trying a new way to get the word out–regardless of how you feel about Wes Anderson, the parody was pretty well done.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Grand Budapest Hotel – Law Street

CNN Remakes the SOTU as a Wes Anderson Film