Asteroid City
- Joshua Xiang
- Jul 12, 2023
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 13, 2023
By Joshua Xiang
"Asteroid City is unlikely to win Wes Anderson many new converts, but those who respond to his signature style will find this a return to immaculately arranged form." (critics consensus, Rotten Tomatoes)
‘I do always feel that a movie for me is not just one idea,’ Anderson says. ‘It’s at least two separate things that come together and start to become a movie.’ The first idea of making Asteroid City conceived by Anderson and Roman Coppola began in New York but soon pointed elsewhere. ‘I wanted to do a theatre movie. I was thinking of Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward and we had an idea of doing a making-of-the-play that they’re working on. It was going to be set entirely in an automat. The other idea we were talking about was something kind of Sam Shepard… so we shifted out of [the automat] and into the desert.’
The film illuminates two poles of 1950s Americana, darting between the West side which has extraterrestrial encounters, post-war paranoia, and scientific invention, and Broadway in the East, as a cast of characters prepares to perform a black-and-white television broadcast of a new play.
This is the most abstract movie I have ever seen. I'm not entirely sure I understand everything that Anderson was aiming for, I was confused by how the movie is going, and I am certain that there is very little amount of people who can get what is going on. However, I believe one day in the future maybe ten years later, there will be so much more people able to appreciate this work, since it is so pure, simple, and aesthetic. Also, at the same time, I don't think I'm meant to have a clear mind when I'm watching through it.
The emotions and atmosphere created by the movie resonated with me, leading me to find solace in Anderson's strangely comforting portrayals of melancholy as a means of escape. One aspect that drew me closer to Anderson during the pandemic was the depiction of his protagonists grappling with a lack of control over their lives. It is evident that Wes Anderson drew upon his own experiences of isolation while filming 'Asteroid City.' Perhaps this is why 'Asteroid City' speaks so clearly to me. In a way, each fragmented group of characters in the film discovers solace and togetherness through art. As the characters reiterate in a particularly memorable scene, "You can't wake up if you don't fall asleep." Only through confronting the confusion of pain and darkness can you wake up into the light.
Humans have always processed their feelings through art, but modernity adds a wrench to the whole existence thing. There’s an aspect of alienation of feeling as if the machines and inventions we build, which are terrifying enough to be able to wipe us out (like the bomb) or seemingly to take over our world altogether (like, say, generative AI), are estranging us from one another and even from ourselves. Art has always been the counterbalance to this, which is in part why groups like The Actors Studio sprung up in the early part of the 20th century. If you are working at a desk all day clacking on a typewriter, operating a machine, or building a bureaucracy that might work like a machine, then going to the theater is supposed to jolt you back to remembering that you, at least, are not a machine. Maybe we should jump out from the way we normally judge a film just like not being a robot, repetetively criticizing and admiring every movie in the same way would not give us more joy and thought on any new movie released.
"The great thing about Wes is he always takes big swings,” says Bryan Cranston, the Breaking Bad star who got his first taste of Anderson voicing one of the canines in Isle of Dogs, and here plays the narrator.
“He just doesn’t go easy on himself. He doesn’t do some kind of movie that we’ve seen before. Every time you see a Wes movie you go, ‘This is new! Where’s it going? I don’t know.’ And if you can sit in the theatre and not be able to predict where he’s going with it … that’s a big swing. It really is. It’s fantastical and fantastic and delicious.”
Just to add a point, "The Asteroid City" boasts the most luxurious cast I have ever seen. If you were to show this cast list to a random person on the street, they would probably mistake it for a candidate list for the world's top 30 actors. However, shockingly, Wes hardly spends a penny on employing any of these superstars. It's like a circus troupe; Wes Anderson’s actors will seemingly follow their writer-director-ringmaster to the ends of the Earth. These actors and actresses could easily accumulate at least 10 Oscars based on their previous work, and not a single one of them doubts the success of this movie. Therefore, we should also consider the film from a fresh perspective. Why do so many artists approve of this kind of work, which most of the audience can barely understand?
From an aesthetic standpoint, Wes Anderson's movies are undeniably hall-of-fame-level pieces of artwork. If imitation is the highest form of flattery, then Anderson has received accolades that would span multiple lifetimes. Immersed in pastels, the widely emulated filmmaker's distinctive aesthetic has served as inspiration for everything from boutiques and bakeries to hotels and showrooms across the globe. With remarkable skill, he harnesses his specially designed filter to craft a comfortable, yet melancholic atmosphere that resonates with the audience. Anderson's true genius lies in his mastery of various saturation and color themes, evoking emotions that transcend the limitations of mere words.
As an aspiring movie critic, engaging in the process of revising this film has opened my eyes to the vast depths of knowledge required to become a true professional in this field. It has humbled me, making me acutely aware of the extent to which a movie can be analyzed and appreciated. While I feel a tinge of regret for not being able to offer a fully comprehensive review of this work, I find great pleasure in delving into the realm of other individuals' perspectives and absorbing their insightful comments. This journey of exploration and immersion in the diverse opinions surrounding films has become a source of genuine enjoyment for me.
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