The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More

No less major than anything else Anderson has done; it's a play-pen for many of Anderson's pet themes and formal tricks, as well as some other fascinating conceits that feel completely new to the eccentric filmmaker's palette. The theatrical (as in stage-plays) approach to style is particularly intriguing here as an extension of Anderson's emotion-via-emotional-distancing-via-artifice methodology. Above all, however, this is simply a joy to watch.

Four shorts with Anderson at his peak and an excellent match of sensibility with Dahl. The lengthier "Sugar" is of course the star, a great spiritual exploration and a vibrant, exciting exercise in artifice and design. "Swan" is poignant and somber moral history, "The Rat Catcher" is grim humor and perfect short story telling, and "Poison" is the most straightforward and surprising take on racism in Anderson's career.