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!
My take after a single watch is
spoiler
I think it’s possible the entire construct of what was happening in black and white was not really happening at all, but just an invention of Jason Schwartzmann’s character to help him deal with the grief of losing his wife.
Conversely, I think everything that happened in color was really happening.
Interestingly this is a wild inversion of what’s presented on screen (where we’re supposed to believe that what’s happening in color is all a production being put on by actors and is NOT real, while the black and white stuff is what’s real.
I’ve only seen it once, but I suspect there are really subtle hints to this peppered throughout.
I believe the climax of the movie is when Jason Schwartzmann’s character “walks through the set” and ends up encountering his wife / “the actress who was supposed to play his wife”. That it began snowing afterwards is a strong visual Cue.
This is literally just my take. I haven’t bothered reading any analysis. I probably won’t until I see it a few more times.
Hope that helps
Thank you for your perspective! Now that I think about it, your theory doesn’t seem that far out there.