I just came back from seeing Asteroid City and it really has me at a loss. I’ve only seen The Grand Budapest hotel of his other movies but know of the inherent weirdness of his movies. I usually know how to classify and discuss a movie after I’ve seen it but this one left me kind of speechless. Not in the sense that I thought it’s the most amazing movie I’ve ever seen but rather that I really don’t know what to make of it.
Was it weird? Yes. Was it uncanny? Yes. Was it beautiful to look at? Yes. Did I understand it? No. Was there anything to understand? I’m not sure. I felt like it tried to lead me somewhere the whole runtime, but I didn’t get to any conclusion at the end.
I’m sure there’s someone here with a bit more context to his filmography that could shine a little light onto the movie, or lead me in the right direction.
On another note, feel free to discuss what you thought of it here, I’d love to read your thoughts!
I’m not sure how much there is too explain beyond what you saw. But maybe that you’ve only seen one other Anderson film makes you think there’s more to it when rather it is what it is.
I personally was disappointed, the Wes Anderson style was driven so hard it took away from the movie and waaaay to many characters. All these amazing actors and they had so little screen time they were barely utilised. Tom hanks and Steve Carrel had barely 10mins of screentime. What a waste!
Less actors would have led to a much more concise and engaging story, like Grand Budapest, Moonrise Kingdom and Darjeeling Ltd IMO. I’d be interested to hear what other people thought of it.
Yes, maybe I was looking for more than there is to it. For me, it felt very pathos-y and as if it wanted to convey a deeper message, but when I found none at the end, maybe that’s exactly what Anderson was going for here. Or is going for in many of his movies. I think I’ll see another one of his to try and make this clearer to me.
And I agree on there being a lot of characters! It’s a great cast that shows up surprisingly little, so to say. :D
Darjeeling didn’t exactly give Tom Hanks much screen time either! “Here’s the central character … and he’s gone!”