ASTEROID CITY
There’s comedy and tragedy in real life. And there’s a need to not play comedy overtly in comedy, unless you’re doing something that’s very superficially funny … but the key is to be well in on that joke and play it very straight … That’s what kills, right?”
Adrien Brody who plays theatre director Schubert Green in Asteroid City.
Despite being unfairly criticized for being a mere stylist, Wes Anderson is widely known to be a director who is fascinated by the darker human emotions. In his latest film Asteroid City the themes of grief and loss run right through the plot. But Anderson examines grief in a tragic-comedic way, rather than by engaging in formulaic scripting.
Deep inner emotions of fear, grief and yearning are revealed in small actions or brief statements rather than by long speeches or confessions. The war photographer Augie Steenbeck – played by Jason Schwartzman – says very little. But Augie slowly reveals his ongoing anguish over the loss of his beloved wife. They had four children together – three girls and a ferociously intelligent teenage son.
Augie’s inner torment is primarily revealed during darkly comedic situations. Ditto Scarlett Johansson’s character, the actress Midge Campbell who is visiting the town with her teenage daughter.
Adrien Brody has appeared in several of Wes Anderson’s movies. Understandably many highly skilled Hollywood actors are peachy keen to be in Anderson’s films. And several of them have openly admitted in interviews they’re flattered and delighted to have been invited to participate.
Well known Hollywood actors featuring in Asteroid City’s ensemble cast are: Tom Hanks, Jason Schwartzman, Tilda Swinton, Scarlett Johnsson, Steve Carell, Jeffrey Wright and Matt Dillon.
Filmed mostly in Spain, the movie is set in the Nevada desert in 1955. The town in has only 87 citizens and it exists primarily because it boasts a 3000 year old meteor crater, a space observatory and barren desert lands that are being used for nuclear testing.
As with most of Anderson’s movies, there are dark undercurrents. But the mushroom shaped nuclear clouds and subsequent aftershocks experienced at the local American diner rarely rate a mention by the locals or those visiting the town.
Anderson told the New York Times, ‘One of the sort of subtexts our movie has something to do with is how this placid period of the fifties is filled with anxiety and … post-traumatic stress disorder that’s undiagnosed …’
The town hosts the annual Junior Stargazers and Space Cadets Convention. Early in the piece we learn that many of the attending space cadets are intellectually precocious and astonishingly inventive but because they’re underage their parents accompany them. The grownups presence provides an adult perspective on what is actually going on. But I won’t be revealing the details!
I love most – but not all of Wes Anderson’s movies. My personal favourites being The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Darjeeling Limited and The Royal Tenenbaums. These are films that I return to time and time again. And with each viewing something new is revealed that I hadn’t noticed before.
However, in Asteroid City I found the constant switching between a theatre play and live action in the township distracting and confusing. There’s a play within a play going on throughout the movie. New York playwright Conrad Erp (Edward Norton) has scenes of his play and the players rehearsing. These scenes are filmed in black-and-white while the rest of the movie is in colour. Moving between the two can become jarring and distracting.
Sometimes I didn’t know what the hell was going on – but I really liked Asteroid City. The surreal setting and the citizens who inhabit the town are engaging and complex. The new arrivals are knowing and witty yet strangely detached from the bizarre events that unfold.
Most of the central protagonists hang onto their composure and self-control in a way that’s comedic. And even though they rarely over emote, the viewer is left with a distinct impression of what makes each one of them tick.
It would be marvelous to be able sit down in the Nevada desert with the main characters and have a martini or three.
image: Scarlett Johansson as actress Midge Campbell in Wes Anderson’s film Asteroid City.