THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME
The Phoenician Scheme: a father-daughter duo on a spy mission, by Wes Anderson
He is now one of the most faithful returners to the Croisette, Wes Anderson is back in Competition for the fourth time with The Phoenician Scheme. This latest film follows Asteroid City, The French Dispatch, and Moonrise Kingdom, the film that opened the Festival de Cannes in 2012. This time, Benicio del Toro can be found alongside Mia Threapleton in an unlikely pairing.
Two years after Asteroid City, Wes Anderson takes us on another dive into the 1950s with The Phoenician Scheme. The new feature film follows the pairing of “Zsa-Zsa” Korda (Benicio del Toro), one of the richest men in Europe, and his daughter Liesl, a nun played by young Mia Threapleton (Firebrand). While escaping yet another assassination attempt, Korda reconnects with his daughter, whom he hasn’t seen in six years, with the aim of grooming her to succeed him. The two embark on a series of outlandish adventures to fulfill Zsa-Zsa’s grand plan: the large-scale exploitation of a region with huge potential.
“The point of departure was to try to invent something about one of those European magnates from the 1950s, like Onassis or Niárchos.”
– Wes Anderson
Through this relationship, Wes Anderson once again explores family ties, a theme already present in The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and The Darjeeling Limited. But, as usual, a whole array of other characters support the main protagonists.
Some of these are played by the filmmaker’s loyal band including Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Mathieu Amalric, Jeffrey Wright, Bryan Cranston, and Benedict Cumberbatch. Other actors, like Michael Cera, take their first steps in the colorful world of Wes Anderson, who has co-written his fifth screenplay with Roman Coppola.
