Meaning of Asteroid City (or behind curtains)

Asteroid City poster

Some time ago I watched yet another movie by Wes Anderson “Asteroid City”, expecting it to be the second “The Grand Budapest Hotel”, and… to my regret, understood nothing.

Yes, you still can enjoy the picture, camera movements, colors. The identity of his movies is guessed without difficulty but after almost 2 hours of the story, I could not connect the dots and reveal the meaning.

I felt as dumb as a doorknob, as I knew that there should be something behind curtains, behind the beautifully measured, colorful and saturated picture in nostalgic tones.

As an excuse, I watched the film in Spanish, and, although I understood the plot, I missed details evaluatively, and perceived only about 60% of dialogues.

Time went by, but I kept thinking back to this movie. As a result, I decided to re-watch the movie. The plot became clearer, jokes — more understandable, and 3! levels of narration have been appeared, but I still missed the central idea. Straight to the point — I couldn’t give up, so read and watched a lot about the movie, Wes Anderson and you know what — I fell in love with it!

Behind the simplicity, slowness, and absurdity of the picture, real diamonds hide (and not even one, but a whole series of diamonds). To perceive them you should not only follow the storytelling, but also note the details, the play of actors, and objects — there cannot be anything superfluous.

I’m still under a solid impression and in the article I want to explain why.

Wes Anderson

Wes Anderson

If you watched one of these famous movies, such as:

1. The Grand Budapest Hotel
2. The French Dispatch
3. Fantastic Mr. Fox (a stop-motion film)

then, you are already in a club of lovers of his style: smooth transitions, 2D view, every detail in the frame has meaning and nothing is accidental.

I don’t want to retell what you can easily read on Wikipedia about his life and art, but want to feature a couple of points.

First, like all talented people, his career started at an early age, when he directed movies starring himself and his brothers.

Anderson studied at the University of Texas at Austin, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with a major in philosophy. In one of interviews about choosing the philosophy subject, he confessed:

I didn’t know anything about it, I didn’t even know what it was talking about. What I really spent my time doing in those years was writing short stories. There were all sorts of interesting courses, but what I really wanted to do was make stories one way or another.

At university, Anderson met Owen Wilson and they started being writing partners since then. He and Owen made a short film, that is called “Bottle Rocket”. It got some attention at Sundance and they partnered up at Gracie Films with Jim Brooks, a producer, to release the first Anderson film with the same name. And there was the open door into Hollywood.

if you are familiar with the business side of making movies, you already know, that his movies with an average of $20 million cannot be classified as high-budget films. Just to name a few:

Budgets and Box offices of some Wes Anderson movies

Nonetheless, Anderson has a frequent set of collaborators on his films with plenty of the most notable actors in the industry.

He doesn’t release multi-million blockbusters like Christopher Nolan or Michael Bay and cannot pay as much, as these actors earn, but even highly paid actors cannot miss the opportunity to make history, to be actors of art, and convey bigger than themselves ideas to the public.

Wes Anderson’s style

Wes Anderson can be tagged as a famous director. Although his movies don’t usually attract a general audience, having a unique style, they are still recognizable, even sometimes without remembering his name.

I would single out 3 main aspects, that make his works so special and exceptional:

A typical (symmetrical) shot of a Wes Anderson movie

1. Color (color palettes to be more specific). Color evokes a mood and tone of a story. Taking HSB (Hue, Saturation, and Brightness) color mode representation, Wes Anderson maximizes the Saturation and Brightness of a picture, such that all objects within the scene are distinctive and highlighted. If you see a red dress for example, then, the red color stands out and screams about its existence. Color palettes in his movies are not random and have a purpose, conveying feelings and a mood of a scene. For example, in “The Grand Budapest Hotel”, the antagonists are in dark colors, the bureaucrat government is dressed in grey and the protagonists wear bright colors.
2. Symmetry. Wes Anderson is obsessed with symmetry. To prove this, you can search for images: “Wes Anderson symmetry” and see countless of examples how it is applied in movies. One purpose of symmetry is to balance a frame and highlight by the composition (symmetry) what to focus on. Symmetry attracts and draws our attention to details. The frame itself tells a story — pay attention to how people are located, who is in the foreground, what is in the background. In the same “The Grand Budapest Hotel” movie, Zero is opposed to M. Gustave. In the beginning we see a frame, where Zero is behind but symmetrical to M. Gustave. When the story evolves, relationships between friends are growing stronger and we notice their communication on an equal footing, which is also represented by a frame — although characters are still opposite to each other, they are on the same plane. Anderson prefers to show his subjective view of a picture instead of reflecting the real world, constructing the scene for us to see.
3. The plain frame (2D composition) or planimetric composition. Planimetric composition is when the camera is perpendicular to elements of the scene with characters moving horizontally or vertically in relation to the camera. This effect, the way to record a scene takes us even to a higher degree of a film existence, we are aware that we watch a movie, and not following characters over a shoulder. The film space feels even more artificially constructed. Such a refined style lies on the border with psychology and how our brain perceives a picture. Such “simplification” of the real world reduces visual noise, to which our brain is accustomed, and brings attention to small details, such as a tiny plate in the background or a miniature animal in the background, that complement an idea of a movie.

The story of Asteroid City is not an exception, as Anderson mixes these 3 aspects together creating a nostalgic picture with high attention to detail. Even re-watching the movie the 3rd time I discovered new details and how tightly the visual and narrative components are intertwined.

As now we explored by a hair’s breadth the director’s personality and his style, it’s time to dive deeper into one of his best movies in my humble opinion — Asteroid City.

Asteroid City's main idea

20 years passed at the speed of a Dream

In a moment Augie will burn his hand

The central idea of the movie is, no more no less, the meaning of life. A “poetic meditation on the meaning of life” as Wes Anderson himself tagged the movie.

How people observe, encounter, and overcome its absence. Constantly breaking the 4th wall, the film is aimed at the audience — their feelings about characters, actors who play characters. The movie expects to be filled with a viewer’s interpretation of what’s happening on a screen without giving any answer. It’s a dialogue between actors and a spectator.

Saying this, we could close the discussion and continue to live our lives, but the movie is much deeper and more multifaceted than this and I propose to plunge into what happens on the screen and unravel the tangle of what we see, building a clear and logical picture of what is going on, catching details and savoring dialogues.

Context

Everything is connected but nothing’s working

In order to understand the movie, we should have some context, a key knowledge, that dispels the mist of misunderstanding.

1. Is life worth being lived?
   The question is raised by Absurdism. Let’s turn to The Myth of Sisyphus (a philosophical essay, written by Albert Camus in 1942): The absurd lies in the juxtaposition between the fundamental human need to attribute meaning to life and the “unreasonable silence” of the universe in response. Camus outlines a Greek myth about Sisyphus, who was punished by gods to push a rock up a mountain for eternity: upon reaching the top, the rock rolls down again, leaving Sisyphus to start over. Camus recognizes Sisyphus as an absurd hero who is condemned to a meaningless task. Does this life worth living? Camus reasons that when Sisyphus acknowledges the worthlessness of his task and the certainty of his fate, he is freed to realize the absurdity of his situation and to reach a state of contented acceptance. Sisyphus finds happiness in the accomplishment of the task he undertakes and not in the meaning of this task. He concludes: “One must imagine Sisyphus happy”.
2. Why do we do what we do?
   Logotherapy (one of the types of existential psychotherapy, developed by Viktor Frankl) gives an answer: “The driving force behind human behavior is the desire “to find and realize the meaning of life existing in the outside world”, in an intense wish for some meaning that is worthy of him. From Frankl’s point of view, meaning is not something purely subjective — a person does not invent it, but finds it in the world around him. Frankl names three ways in which a person can make his life meaningful:
   a. Activities in which the leading role is assigned to creativity, labor;
   b. The experience that gives us the contemplation of works of art, nature, the experience of a feeling of love;
   c. The search for meaning in the share that fell to a person, in the suffering and deprivation that he got;
3. Actors play.
   Asteroid City is an amazingly crafted movie, where every piece of the movie connects together to work (no pan intended). The acting in the movie is perfect. Contrary to our expectations, stars of the first magnitude play emotionless, empty on purpose. As was said before, the movie is a dialogue between actors and the audience. We, as spectaculars should attach emotions to characters. Light outlines of emotions only dictate the direction, but inner feelings are profoundly hidden. It’s our responsibility to find an interpretation of what is happening with a character, what his thoughts are, and why he does what he does. Thus, throughout the film, the director constantly collides us with the story to fill the meaning of what we see on the screen.
4. Multi-layered narrative. Breaking the fourth wall facilitates the interpretation of the story and unravels the core idea. To build such effect, Wes Anderson created 3! layers of the movie:
   1. the writer who writes the play and the actors who play the story
   2. The play performed in front of an audience
   3. The television program that explores the play
   All these layers, layering at the very beginning, intertwine as the story develops and even start interacting with each other. Even Wes Anderson, seeing such complexity of the construction and laughing at himself, introduces the joke: Bryan Cranston’s narrator character excuses himself for being in the wrong shot.
   Remember, that color and frame matter a lot for Anderson? To distinguish what we are looking at should not be difficult — we have 2 shooting types: color frames in wide format for the Asteroid City story, and a black-and-white picture in 3x4 format for the troupe and the narrator.

Meaning of life

I still don’t understand the play.
Doesn’t matter. Just keep telling the story.

Throughout the entire movie, characters frequently ask the same question over and over — “What’s the point in what is happening?” and don’t get an answer:

1. What’s the point of nuclear bomb tests? For us, as spectators, it just happens and we have the power to fill the explosion with meaning.
2. How to fix the broken down car? Even the workshop worker does not know — There were only two diametrically opposite options, but the third happened.
3. Does the endless pursuit have an end? — We do not see the denouement. For us, it’s just like the Myth of Sisyphus and the absurdism of life.
4. Why did Augie burn his hand? — One of the essential scenes in the film. Why did he really do it? Even Jones Hall, an actor who plays Augie tries to understand. If you are watchful, you noticed, that he asks about the scene not once. In the very beginning, until we know that Augie will burn his hand in the play, Hall asks Conrad Earp, a playwriter, the question. Maybe he needed to explain the rapid heartbeat? The question remains unanswered.
5. Where did a character of Midge Campbell get a black eye? — “She just has it and that’s it”.
6. “What’s the cause? What’s the meaning? Why do you always have to dare something?” asks Roger Cho, a father of one of genius children. — “I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I’m afraid otherwise nobody’ll notice my existence in the universe” — answers his son.

And this is not even the full list of questions, that the characters of the play, the actors of the characters, and a narrator (Bryan Cranston) ask throughout the timeline.

All questions raise in us the uncomfortable feeling of the unknown and even characters don’t help to solve the problem — they are purposely devoid of feelings. We force to choose — to fill things with meanings or give up and just watch what happens next (but we won’t get any answer).

Meantime, the characters keep going, keep living their lives, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation. The answer is not so important, it won’t open a magic box with all the knowledge in the world. Maybe the answer is wrong, but the action itself has already taken place, a character experienced the action and it influenced him — that’s what really matters and makes sense.

The whole work sets the simple, but powerful idea: No matter what, if you don’t see a meaning around you, just keep telling the story, just keep living your life, find the meaning in action, in its accomplishment.

An asteroid

I play the Alien as a Metaphor, but I’m not sure what of…

An asteroid, as a driving force for the story, continues the idea of meaning. Just look at the city's metamorphosis:

1. before the asteroid, the city doesn’t exist, as there is no point of attraction.
2. The asteroid falls and the city is built around it. The city has a definitive purpose.
3. But what if an alien comes and picks up the asteroid? The movie gives a conclusive answer. The city doesn’t disappear, from our point of view it acquires another meaning — instead of the Asteroid, it becomes the Alien-was-here city.

The city is a metaphor for emptiness, and a viewer is invited to fill it with his own meaning.

You can’t wake up if you don’t go to sleep

A clear message from the play by Wes Anderson, that shatters the 4th wall: “You can’t wake up if you don’t go to sleep”.

While I was preparing the material for this article, I read oceans of interpretations. One article stated, that this phrase is so vague that it remains for the viewer to interpret. But I’d disagree with this — if you were attentive enough, you could spot several key scenes and dialogues to open the secret.

- I need some fresh air
- You won’t find any

“Sleep is not death, the body is occupied, breathes air, pumps blood, thinks. When you sleep, maybe you’re visiting your dead mother or maybe you go to bed with your ex-wife or husband. Important things are happening” says Saltzburg Keitel, an acting teacher. We reflect on the past, try to find answers to questions, that the world raised during the day, discover the meaning of life. Everything, that we are going through in the dream can be surreal, can trick and mislead us, but it’s our experience, a missing piece for our creation. The truth doesn’t matter.

Another clue is found later when Jones Hall literally goes out of the play and meets an actress, that played supposed-to-be-but-was-cut wife (Margot Robbie). They talk about a dream, that Augie dreamed about and that was removed from the original play. The dialogue is about how Augie is suffering from his wife's loss but finds the strength to continue to live and take care of Woodrow. Beyond that, in the cut scene, Augie is supposed to finally reveal his feelings through tears and cry. Did you notice? The scene, representing a dream and giving an answer and a new meaning to Augie's life (how to live further without wife and take care of his son) was removed. Hall's character cannot see this dream in the play and cannot “wake up” — cannot overcome the loss and keeps the pain in his heart. The scene was masterfully cut from the play but intertwined with the original story that a viewer sees it as proof of the message.

People who were patient enough while watching the movie got yet another clue and a more direct meaning of the phrase during credits. As the movie ends and the credits roll, we hear the song by Jarvis Cocker: You Can’t Wake Up If You Don’t Fall Asleep (youtube link). Go there and read the lyrics — it’s awesome.

You’ll never find the treasure unless you dig deep

Summary

Wes Anderson outdid himself in this film. Linking actions, playing with layers, and tying the idea into a strong knot is so complex, that, unfortunately, not everyone can consume it.

I really love the movie, as it represents a real work of art with numerous intricacies and references. Humor alone, about which I did not say a word, is worth it.

As I was writing this article, several times I caught myself thinking — is this really what the author wanted to say or I am speculating? But in the end, it doesn’t matter, does it?

Asteroid City movie is an example of a complex mix of themes, references, plot interweaving, and has a florid way to convey the main idea of the film, which is extremely difficult to digest in one go. I’ve watched the movie 3 times and spent hours and hours researching the movie just to slightly open this wonderful world of Wes Anderson.

If you wanted to live a nice, quiet, peaceful life, you picked the wrong time to get born

What I described in the article is just the tip of the iceberg. There are much more details in the movie, that make sense and are woven into the bigger picture. I just want to give some hints, if you decide to re-watch the movie once again (and you definitely should):

1. Pay attention to what photos are taken by Augie. Taking pictures focuses us on the most important scenes.
2. Little girl's names. So special names cannot be random. There is a key phrase from Woodrow.
3. The names memory game also matches the overall picture.
4. Like his character, Jones Hall experiences the pain of loss. “You didn’t just become Augie, he became you”.
5. From which part of the play do you think Augie’s dream was cut?
6. The quarantine moment. There would be no such plot twist if the movie was filmed in a different year.

Criticism

Looking at reviews, such as IMDb rating (6.8/10) or Google reviews — 2.0/5 you can derive, that the movie should be awful and you shouldn’t spend time and money on it.

Google reviews

You can read a typical review from there (a synopsis at the end of one of the reviews):

Asteroid City is a prime example of how not to make a movie. From the poor acting to the nonsensical plot and laughable special effects, this film is an insult to the art of cinema. It’s a shame that talented filmmakers and actors are often overlooked while abominations like this manage to see the light of day. Save yourself the agony and avoid Asteroid City at all costs. It’s a black hole of creativity and entertainment that should be left to drift into oblivion.

or another one:

This is my first movie review ever, but this movie was so bad, I couldn’t resist. This dumpster fire of a film suffers on innumerable points. Primarily, it has an identity crisis that distracts from itself, a split personality if you will, zero character development, the plot moves slower than molasses in December, it’s almost entirely lacking in humor, and our entire group walked away with no discernible message or sense that anything was accomplished.

Now, when you know what is behind the story, it’s hard to hide a smile. The movie is criticized exactly for what comes out well in the film, such as “cool acting by the actors”, “laughable special effects” or “no sense that anything was accomplished”. Especially — the latter, as it is so good and even surreal, considering the movie idea.

As you clearly see, people didn’t understand the movie (so did I at first).

The culture of Marvel (no offense, Marvel fans, it’s just the most famous saga) and blockbusters brought people to stop reflecting on movies and digging deeper. Special effects and feelings come to the fore. Movies became a roller coaster with popcorn and coke.

I’m not saying, that it’s a rotten dynamic. People haven’t become stupider, there are still plenty of excellent movies, but their audience is much much smaller.

I explain the situation to myself as follows. To maximize profit, filmmakers, and studios tend to reach the widest possible audience and for more than 100 years of movie history, they excelled at marketing and creating a film for the widest audience possible, without raising questions and educating.

a Netflix show The Witcher

There is a resonated interview of Tomasz Bagiński (an executive producer of The Witcher, season 2) with Wyborcza newspaper. Just two parts of the interview (an original article, in Polish), that caught my attention:

When a series is made for a huge mass of viewers, with different experiences, from different parts of the world, and a large part of them are Americans, these simplifications not only make sense, they are necessary. It’s painful for us, and for me too, but the higher level of nuance and complexity will have a smaller range, it won’t reach people. Sometimes it may go too far, but we have to make these decisions and accept them.

the younger the audience, the logic is less important, […] the younger people grew up with tik-tok and youtube where they jump from video to video.

I don’t fully agree, especially, when he mentions nationality and age/generation, as humanity hasn’t become any dumber — just look at all these countless companies, and start-ups, that revolutionalize the world every day and how quickly progress is accelerating nowadays — nuclear power, self-driving cars, chatbots, you name it. The main takeaway for me is “When a series is made for a huge mass of viewers …” and you can clearly see what is happening — moviemakers became too good at generating money, looking at this as an investment, not as an art. And following this path, it works in the feedback loop: the less complex movie is released, the fewer people think and reflect on the movie, which sets up an even simpler movie, and so on.