attempt to impose order on the universe through individual strength of will is doomed , and life is only given structure and meaning through human love , moving toward reconciliation and grace . Yet despite this positive movement at the end of the films , underlying all of them is an ultimate sadness , a despair being held only temporarily at bay . I want to explore how Anderson ’ s philosophic vision , based on his eight full-length films , intersects and overlaps with one of the grand narratives that it supposedly rejects . Anderson ’ s films draw on Christian theological concepts for the meaning that his characters do find , and I intend to show that where his films draw back from those concepts is precisely the source of his characters ’ ultimate despair .
A place of underlying , of even overt , dissatisfaction is where Anderson ’ s characters are when we meet them . What James Mottram says of the characters in Life Aquatic is true for all of Anderson ’ s characters : “ all the characters are lost and looking for something ” ( 392 ). Sometimes we get a glimpse of what has led up to this as when Anthony in Bottle Rocket says that he went to the mental health facility on Arizona for “ exhaustion ” and that he simply “ went nuts .” As he describes this earlier period of his life to his new love interest , Inez , he says that he was “ lost and confused , totally lost , incredibly unhappy .” Inez herself understands Anthony ’ s rootless , existence when she describes him as “ paper ” drifting by in the wind . All of Anderson ’ s characters meet at this place of ultimate dissatisfaction . Herman Blume in Rushmore has a loveless marriage , sons he despises , no friends or extended family . He is so lost he actually asks a fifteen-year old boy for advice : “ What ’ s the secret , Max ?” In a subsequent scene , he jumps into his backyard pool at his sons ’ birthday party and , in an echo of the pool scene in The Graduate , seems 72