Wes Anderson teams with Adrien Brody to make H&M Christmas short film — VIDEO
LOS ANGELES — Terrible weather and mechanical difficulties threaten to ruin Christmas for the passengers of a sleeper train in a Wes Anderson-directed Christmas commercial for H&M. But fortunately, attendant Adrien Brody is on hand with a Christmas tree and some improvised decorations to save the day.
The short, which was released on H&M’s YouTube channel, is the first we’ve seen of Anderson’s kooky, doll-house style since “The Grand Budapest Hotel” in 2014, which Brody also starred in, but many of his trademarks are there.
Long horizontal and vertical dolly shots, subtle — almost imperceptible — facial movements, and quirky characters are all present in the ad which also stars “Sing” director Garth Jennings as Brody’s assistant.
In just under four minutes, Anderson manages to inject his acerbic, absurdist humor into what could have otherwise been a mundane Christmas ad. The short opens with a shot of a forlorn Brody, who announces to his passengers aboard the hurtling train that “due to challenging weather conditions overnight in combination with mechanical difficulties on our scheduled route,” the train will arrive 11-and-a-half hours late.
The director’s next project will be a yet untitled stop-motion animated film, which will feature the voices of Anderson regulars Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Bob Balaban, and Edward Norton, as well as Bryan Cranston.
