The Phoenician Scheme: A Man of No Identity

Wes Anderson’s latest film, the Phoenician Scheme, is as visually precise and as deadpan quirky as always, with the minimal style of portraying characters in the new area since his film, French Dispatch.  

The Phoenician Scheme is about the late life of industrial tycoon Zsa-Zsa Korda, who survived several assassination attempts and tried to convince his novice daughter, Sister Liesl, to inherit his business plan, named “the Phoenician Scheme.” Historically, the Phoenicians are referred to as a group of people who lived primarily in the region of Lebanon and Syria and spread through the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea around the Iron Age. In the film, a stylish map of Phoenicia functions as title cards to showcase different chapters of Korda’s journey. Where this region is located remains undisclosed. 

With the tropical and desert landscape, the film seems to paint an exotic world with references of the Lebanon-Syria region. This story of Korda is based on an Ottoman-born (nowadays Istanbul) Armenian oil magnate, Calouste Gulbenkian, who is one of the first businessmen facilitating the oil trade between the Middle East and Europe. The cylindrical red fez hat, which was popularized during the Ottoman Empire, was worn by nightclub owner Marseille Bob. Right at the beginning of Korda’s journey to fix his plan, a troop dressed in Tuareg (from North Africa) style clothing appeared as a sign of danger. At the last stop of the journey, an Art Deco-style hotel with ancient Egyptian decor is the main stage of the final meeting and Korda’s confrontation with his brother. With Pakistani-descent British actor Riz Ahmed playing a prince in Phoenicia, all the main characters were played by European and American actors who are not of Middle Eastern descent.

In the beginning of the climax, Korda remarkably said to Liesl, “I don’t live anywhere. I’m not a citizen at all. I don’t need my human rights.” The visible influence of this state was limited to his lack of a passport in the film. As an oilman, Gulbenkian lived in various countries throughout his life and negotiated between different financial and political forces across continents. Anderson’s spin on this figure centers around Catholic motifs, with Korda’s recurring afterlife trials in his near-death experiences and the glamorous close-up of Liesl’s glowing rosary. The famine and slavery were mentioned as symbolic tropes in the narration of Korda’s plan, and the liberation army showed up only to provide unexpected assistance.

It’s not the first time Anderson created a fictional location based on historical regions: with pan-European references, The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) successfully captures the sense of loss, the futile and bittersweet attempt to maintain something already gone, and the change of periods. On the other hand, The Darjeeling Limited (2007) explicitly portrays Northern India and was shot there. The main characters were passengers of the land while they were dealing with grief, brotherhood, and other internal conflicts of personal relationships. Isle of Dogs (2018), as a story surrounding children and dogs in Japan, tackles the general political climates nevertheless as a stop-motion animation, showing Anderson’s characteristic approach. 

The Phoenician Scheme is unlike those three films in presenting a history, a region, or a sentimental environment. The adventure of the protagonist isn’t highly contextual to the environmental background, which is an undeniable force pushing the characters’ lives in The Grand Budapest Hotel. The initial cause of Korda’s actions and his change of mind mainly come from the Catholic conversion. The emotional impact on Korda with the unique lifestyle is his detachment from intimate relationships and a hint of precariousness, which is a constant notion and barely varies throughout the film. The other aspects of his character remained untold, and the result leads to an indifference to this person. Korda became not only a man of no nationality but also a character of no identity, making the film a light-hearted comedy without poking at the fundamental elements inside.