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Associated Press
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Movie Review: Wes Anderson's ‘Phoenician Scheme' is as Wes Anderson as a Wes Anderson film can be
'They say you murdered my mother,' the young would-be nun tells the shady tycoon. 'I feel the need to address this.' There's something about the deadpan delivery and the clear-eyed manner that makes you sit up and take notice of Liesl, and even more of Mia Threapleton, who plays her in 'The Phoenician Scheme.' (And there's another thing, too obvious to ignore: Boy, does she ever resemble her mom, Kate Winslet.) A vivid presence despite her dry-as-dust tone, Threapleton makes a splendid Andersonian debut here as half the father-daughter duo, along with Benicio Del Toro, that drives the director's latest creation. Their emerging relationship is what stands out amid the familiar Andersonian details: the picture-book aesthetic. The meticulous production design (down to those fascinating closing credits). The chapter cards. The 'who's who' of Hollywood cameos. And most of all the intricate — nay, elaborate; nay, labyrinthine — plot. Indeed, Anderson seems to be leaning into some of these characteristics here, giving the impression of becoming even more, well, Wes Anderson than before. He will likely delight his most ardent fans but perhaps lose a few others with the plot, which becomes a bit exhausting to follow as we reach the midpoint of this tale. But what is the Phoenician scheme, anyway? It's a sweeping, ambitious, somewhat corrupt dream of one Anatole 'Zsa-zsa' Korda (Del Toro), one of the richest industrialists in Europe, to exploit a vast region of the world. We begin in 1950, with yet another assassination attempt on Korda's life — his sixth plane crash, to be exact, which occurs as he sits smoking a cigar and reading about botany. Suddenly, in a hugely entertaining pre-credits sequence, Korda's in the cockpit, ejecting his useless pilot and directing his own rescue, asking ground control whether he should crash into a corn or soybean field. The media mourns his passing — and then he turns up, one eye mangled, biting into a husk of corn. As usual, reports of his death have been … you know. Recovering at his estate, with some truly fabulous, tiled bathroom floors, Korda summons Liesl from the convent where he sent her at age 5. He wants her to be his sole heir — and avenger, should his plentiful enemies get him. His plans are contained in a series of shoeboxes. But Liesl isn't very interested in the Korda Land and Sea Phoenician Infrastructure Scheme. What she wants to know is who killed her mother. She also mentions they haven't seen each other in six years. ('I apologize,' he says.) And she wonders why none of his nine sons, young boys he keeps in a dormitory, will be heirs. But Korda wants her. They agree to a trial period. We do get the creeping feeling Liesl will never make it back to the convent — maybe it's the red lipstick, or the affinity she's developing for jewels? But we digress. We should have mentioned by now the tutor and insect expert, Bjørn. In his first Anderson film but likely not the last, Michael Cera inhabits this character with just the right mix of commitment and self-awareness. 'I could eat a horse,' he muses in a silly quasi-Norwegian accent before lunch, 'and easily a pigeon!' Now it's on the road they go, to secure investments in the scheme. We won't get into the financial niceties — we writers have word-length limits, and you readers have patience limits. But the voyage involves — obviously! — a long line of characters only Anderson could bring to life. Among them: the Sacramento consortium, aka Tom Hanks and Bryan Cranston, two American guys who hinge their financial commitment on the outcome of a game of HORSE. Next it's to Marseille Bob (Mathieu Amalric), and then to Marty (Jeffrey Wright), leader of the Newark Syndicate (we're not talking Jersey here, but Upper Eastern Independent Phoenicia), who offers a blood transfusion to Korda because, oh yes, he was shot by terrorists at the previous meeting. (Don't worry, the guy's indestructible.) Then there's Cousin Hilda (Scarlett Johansson, continuing the cameo parade), whom Korda seeks to marry to get her participation in the investment. And then back on the plane, the group is strafed by a fighter jet. Soon, it'll be revealed that one of them is a mole. We won't tell you who, although it's hard to tell if anything is really a spoiler here — like the part when Benedict Cumberbatch appears with a very fake beard as Uncle Nubar, who may be someone's father or may have killed someone, and engages in a slapstick fight with Korda, complete with vase-smashing. We also shouldn't tell you what happens with the big ol' scheme — it was all about the journey, anyway. And about Korda and Liesl, who by the end have discovered things about each other but, even more, about themselves. As for Liesl, at the end, she's clad stylishly in black and white — but definitely not in a habit. As someone famously said about Maria in 'The Sound of Music,' 'somewhere out there is a lady who I think will never be a nun.' 'The Phoenician Scheme,' a Focus Features release, has been rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association 'for violent content, bloody images, some sexual material, nude images, and smoking throughout.' Running time: 101 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.
Telegraph
08-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
‘Work is a human endeavour': why the future of business will rely on the wellbeing of employees
Today, the mills of Saltaire thrum with the sound of keyboard strokes, not spinning machines. Originally built in the 19th century, the town – including allotments, schools, a library, a concert hall, science laboratory and a gymnasium – was one of many built by wealthy industrialists in order to improve their workers' health and living conditions. Now a World Heritage site, many of Saltaire's 19th-century factories have been converted into flats and offices in a modern echo of a town created to support – and improve – the wellbeing of a workforce. Today, the conversation about workers' wellbeing has moved on from 19th-century paternalism. But the focus on workplace wellbeing has been revived in a new, modern iteration – and arguably the business incentive to invest in maintaining a workforce fit in mind and body has only increased. Attract and retain The modern workplace is much more transparent than it used to be. Stories of workers' happiness – and dissatisfaction – spread, whether it's from a factory in Asia or a cubicle in Swindon. Additionally, as the workforce diversifies, employee standards and expectations have changed, with many seeing holistic wellbeing and supportive policies as a core part of what a workplace should offer. 'As a mother of two, I'm not bothered by your great nights out or free lunches, I want to know you've got my back if my kids are sick and that I can flex work to fit around schedules so that I don't have to choose between being a CEO or being a great mum,' says Vimla Appadoo, CEO of Honey Badger, a design and culture consultancy. Psychologist and educator Dr Justin D Henderson is an expert on workplace burnout and wellbeing, and envisions a future of sustainable work environments built through multi-level wellbeing strategies. 'First of all, I think we should care about people,' Henderson says. 'The history of work has not considered human wellbeing as the front and centre,' he says. 'But work is a human endeavour. It's really important for organisations to remind themselves that workplaces are about relationships and relationships are about supporting wellbeing. 'The psychological stressors that you're subjecting yourself to for eight or 10 hours a day, every day, five days a week, has a collective erosion on our mental and physical health over time.' This tanks productivity, creativity and engagement – but more importantly, it erodes our health too: 'Work stress has consequences to our physical health. It has consequences to our relational health when we go home, and has consequences to our psychological health.' If workplaces want to avoid generating a burned-out, disengaged and unwell workforce, wellbeing must be a strategic priority – not just an add-on. How tech can help The transparency brought about by technology doesn't just expose its workings to the outside, it equips leaders to see through their own business and empowers employees to take control of their careers. Technologies like MHR's People First platform make it easy to schedule check-ins and analyse employee sentiment, as well as giving employees the tools, learning and insights they need to boost their own wellbeing. A report from Wagestream has found that 70% of UK employees are worrying more about money. Giving employees real-time access to their payslips and wages ensures that they always know their own financial position. With MHR's real-time payroll system, employees can see exactly how much money they are earning as they are earning it, while its flexible pay initiative allows employees to access a percentage of their earned wages throughout the month, providing resilient and sustainable financial health. 'Tech and AI could help us do many aspects of our jobs that we might find incredibly stressful and time consuming,' Henderson says, resulting in 'people being able to engage in work that's more meaningful'. The modern workplace now needs to adapt to the demands of the 21st-century: employees are expected to exhibit creativity, collaboration, problem-solving and empathy – and these skills will only become more valuable as machines take on more and more of the manual labour and basic administration. Having a healthy, fulfilled and financially resilient workforce is likely to become even more important in the future than it is today. Beyond the office Of the 90,000 hours most of us will work in our lifetimes, many will be outside of the workplace. Remote and hybrid working options have combined with complex lifestyles to result in a much more nuanced approach to the working day. 'The lines between work and home have become blurred, especially since the pandemic and the shift to home working,' says Appadoo. 'People don't see a split in time at work and time at home anymore, it's all just time and if businesses want to make the most out of their workforce they need to start supporting their employees to make the most out of that time.' According to Henderson, the opposite of a burnout-oriented workplace is one of resilience: 'We have to establish a workplace culture that appreciates and validates people, knowing that policies and procedures may change, but those core cultures and values will not. Resilience is the combination of strength and flexibility.' The modern workplace might be unrecognisable to the philanthropist employers of the 19th century. But they would certainly recognise the social and business value in keeping staff well.
