I went to see this greatly anticipated film with my son, a self-avowed Wes Anderson fan. As with any Anderson film I was looking forward to seeing it, or perhaps I should say, experiencing it.
You never quite know what to expect, whilst at the same time knowing exactly what to expect.
After about ten minutes a couple got up and left the theatre. I can’t think for the life of me, why being confronted with Bryan Cranston would do that to anyone, but there you go! And perhaps the melding of, film, documentary and theatre was too much to take, even after two handful’s of minutes?
There’s always that Anderson, what’s the word, quirkiness, and the sharp comedic dialogue that seems to flow from his pen. Awesome! It must be wonderful to write that kind of thing.
I am always (a personal quirk) interested in the censors card at the beginning of the film, which ‘warns’ us what to expect. In the case of Asteroid City I was warned that there’d be ‘brief nudity’. Now, I can see that, but why do I need to be warned about it? As another Tom Hanks character once said, ‘stoopid is as stoopid does.”
The usual sci-fi trope of calling in the military when an alien appears on the planet had a lovely, comedic twist. Jeffrey Wright’s delivery as the voice of authority was excellent. But it does warrant the question, Why do we always call in the military?
The standout line, was spoken by Matt Dillon’s character and seemed to some up the whole world and experience of Asteroid City, “everything's connected, but nothing’s working.” And perhaps that’s Wes Anderson’s observation about our life on planet earth? The aliens are not coming to conquer the earth, but to catalogue a space artefact. Maybe they should’ve called in a museum curator; it would have been cheaper on the national economy, after all?
I didn’t walk out, I stayed for the Wes Anderson experience. My son thought it was ‘typical Wes Anderson’ and I thought it wasn’t as good as ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’, or ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’, but it is one of those films that if it was on a screen near me, I’d want to see it and be entertained by it.
Have you seen it? What did you think?
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Saw it and loved it. The coloration was fabulous. It was campy. It was smart. It was sarcastic and most clever. Fabulous acting and writing. Love Cranston being in the wrong scene... Goldblum as the alien was great... and ScarJo was spot on.
@Philip Sedgwick (tagging not working again!) Yes, who'da ever thought that BC would be in the wrong scene? There's so much going on in this film that I may just have to see it again! Yes, SJ and The Death of a Narcissist, priceless. Although I'd like to know what that's a poke at? Any ideas? Or is it just a straight reference to narcissistic actors? Loved it.
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Geoff Hall Overall it was a slay your sacred cows film. Many of the films someone of my era was weened watching are subject to commentary for perspective! Turn it upside down why not?
Philip Sedgwick there’s a great method there, Philip, for us writers to learn if we wish to make a cultural impact.
I’m just reading what is probably thought of as an arcane book, called Zhuangzi, a Chinese mystical Daoist writer (from the 4th and 3rd Century BCE). In the introduction to this translation Burton Watson writes about Zhuangzi’s method:
“Zhuangzi…rejects all conventional values, and as a result, like so many mystical writers, he rejects the conventional values of words as well, deliberately employing them to mean the opposite of what they ordinarily mean in order to demonstrate their essential meaninglessness.”
Watson also points out that Zhuangzi employed humour, parody and ridicule, rather than polemic to undermine the systems of control in his day.
It makes me think that Wes Anderson must be a Daoist, of the Zhuangzi model!! Perhaps he’s read the mystical writings of this wise old sage?
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No idea what he's read. However Anderson takes a Dutch Angle and cubes it conceptually. Whatever he's ingested literarily or otherwise certainly works for him. Talk about finding your voice (and vision).
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Philip Sedgwick yes, he’s certainly done that to great aplomb!