A work I'm not quite sure I understand, but liked | Asteroid City by Wes Anderson

imagen.png

Hello everybody!

It is really hard for me to define a film like Asteroid City, I sat down to watch it after another of Wes Anderson's works left me wanting more, and I'm not sure if what I saw pleased me, confused me or both.

It's a film that uses a lot of meta-commentary, it requires a lot of patience capturing the details and the little subtleties that are found in all this work as well as in its exterior, the work already for its staging seems to me worthy at least to contemplate, I'm not sure if I can defend its story and how they develop it.


imagen.png

Let's not get ahead of ourselves, shall we? Asteroid City is the latest film from the favourite director of that girl who only drinks coffee and reads books in the rain, Wes Anderson is a director who is easy to like, the way he builds a scene and how his films seem more like puppet plays is reason enough to see his work.

In this case perhaps the plot is not the most concise, we go around a play (literally) that deals with an out of this world event in the heart of a small town, as well as the outskirts of the theatre, its actors, how the actors were built and recruited and also what these characters represent to them.


imagen.png

we deal with several characters in each of their stages, the play opens with a father stranded with his car in this town, where he decides to rent a room and stay with his children while help arrives, from there we understand that the town is actually part of a science celebration where different families come here to celebrate.

I always like the beginning of these films, as long as you don't get used to this director's style every scene will seem fascinating and a reference for film students, even I feel like shooting a film with this style.


imagen.png

This film varies the time in scene between the father meeting a famous retired actress with whom he shares certain hobbies to the children who participate in the science activity exploring the whole village, it is a quiet first part in which we also explore the beginnings of this play, its writer and how he determined the main actor who plays the father.

For the second part is where it seems that the movie is going to get good, I understand that the first parts are to give a bit of exposure and that we know the characters but if it is not for the peculiarity that this director directs I am sure it would have changed the movie.


image.png

But I was wondering, something should happen right?

and I'm generally right, the event that puts the whole town on high alert is a spoiler I'd rather keep to myself so you can watch the film in peace but it's a very bizarre moment in my opinion for many reasons, still it seems like the plot is moving somewhere.

except that apart from all the drama that many characters have because of this event it doesn't seem to change too much, some scenes are the same, it doesn't seem to affect the characters too much and it's not very interesting at least for me.

imagen.png

Digesting this movie a bit better I think my problem is the flashbacks that refer to what is outside this hypothetical play, I don't see the connection of those moments with the ones we see inside and yes, they shouldn't be connected in a forced way but that makes me wonder what's the point then?

It's time we could be spending getting to know the interesting characters in this little world, there are scenes where they shine and each one has some characteristic that makes them easy to remember, I wish I had spent a little more time with them.

Because at the end of it all and when the smoke clears, we realise that the journey has been one without too many lessons and where we haven't known too much about the main characters, perhaps an allegory to life itself where we don't always have all the pieces of the puzzle or a satisfactory outcome for us.

imagen.png

I must say that the film is not long at all, I watched it relaxed on the couch and I was very comfortable most of it, some moments made me make my brain work and wonder where it all comes from, but I think if I put my overall experience with this film is a 6 or 7 out of 10 so not bad.

I still lack a bit more perspective on this director, The Grand Budapest Hotel seems to me a film with so many brilliant, funny and dramatic moments, it's a real heartbreaker compared to this one which is meant to be a more introspective film, less dramatic and less focused on feelings we can see, and more on internal struggle

Thank you very much for reading all this.


Spanish Version

imagen.png

¡Hola a todos!

Es realmente dificil para mi definir una pelicula como Asteroid City, me sente a verla despues de que otra de las obras de Wes Anderson me dejara deseando mas, y no estoy seguro si lo que vi me ha gustado, me ha confundido o ambas.

Es un film que usa mucho el meta-comentario, requiere de mucha paciencia captando los detalles y las pequeñas sutilezas que se encuentran en toda esta obra asi como en su exterior, la obra ya por su puesta en escena me parece digna al menos de contemplar, no estoy muy seguro si puedo defender su historia y el como la desarrollan


imagen.png

No nos adelantemos si? Asteroid City es la ultima pelicula del director favorito de esa chica que solo toma cafes y lee libros bajo la lluvia, Wes Anderson es un director que es facil que te caiga bien, la forma en la que construye una escena y como sus peliculas parecen mas obras de marionetas es una razon suficiente para ver su obra

en este caso quiza la trama no sea de lo mas conciza, damos vueltas por una obra de teatro (literal) que trata un acontecimiento fuera de este mundo en el corazon de un pequeño pueblo, asi como tambien las afueras del teatro, sus actores, como se construyo y reclutaron a los actores y tambien que representan estos personajes para ellos


imagen.png

tratamos con varios personajes en cada una de sus etapas, la obra abre con un padre de familia varado con su carro en este pueblo, en el que decide alquilar una habitacion y quedarse con sus hijos mientras llega ayuda, de ahi entendemos que en realidad el pueblo es parte de una celebracion de ciencias en la que distintas familias vienen hasta aca a celebrar

El comienzo siempre es lo que me atrae de estas peliculas, mientras no te acostumbres al estilo de este director cada escena parecera fascinante y una referencia para los estudiantes de cine, hasta a mi me dan ganas de rodar un pelicula con este estilo


imagen.png

La pelicula va variando el tiempo en escena entre el padre conociendo a una actriz famosa retirada con la que comparte ciertas aficiones a los niños que participan en la actividad de ciencias explorando todo el pueblo, es una primera parte tranquila en la que tambien exploramos los comienzos de esta obra, su escritor y como determino el actor principal que interpreta al padre.

Para la segunda parte es donde parece que la pelicula se va a poner buena, entiendo que las primeras partes son para dar un poco de exposicion y que conozcamos a los personajes pero si no es por lo peculiar que este director dirige estoy seguro lo hubiese cambiado la pelicula


imagen.png

Pero me preguntaba, algo deberia pasar no?

y por lo general estoy en la razon, el evento que pone a todo el pueblo en alerta maxima es un spoiler que prefiero guardarme para que puedan verse el film en paz pero es un momento muy bizarro a mi parecer por muchos motivos, aun asi parece que la trama se mueve a alguna parte

excepto que aparte de todo el drama que muchos personajes tienen por este suceso no parece cambiar demasiado, algunas escenas son iguales, no parece afectarles demasiado a los personajes y no es muy interesante al menos para mi

imagen.png

digiriendo esta pelicula un poco mejor creo que mi problema son los flashbacks que hacen referencia a lo que esta afuera de esta hipotetica obra, no veo la conexion de esos momentos con los que vemos dentro y si, no deberian estar conectados de manera obligada pero eso hace preguntarme ¿cual es el punto entonces?

Es tiempo que podemos estar pasando conociendo a los personajes interesantes de este pequeño mundo, hay escenas en donde brillan y cada uno tiene alguna caracteristica que hace que sean faciles de recordar, desearia haber pasado un poco mas de tiempo con ellos

Porque al final de todo y cuando el humo se disipa, nos damos cuenta de que el viaje ha sido uno sin demasiadas lecciones y en donde no hemos conocido demasiado a sus protagonistas, a lo mejor una alegoria a la vida misma en donde no siempre tenemos todas las piezas del rompecabezas o un resultado satisfactorio para nosotros

imagen.png

debo decir que la pelicula no se hace nada larga, me la vi relajado en el sofa y estuve la mayoria de ella muy a gusto, algunos momentos me hicieron hacer funcionar el cerebro y preguntarme ¿de donde sale todo esto? pero creo que si pongo mi experiencia general con ste film es de un 6 o 7 sobre 10 asi que nada mal

Aun me falta un poco mas perspectiva sobre este director, el Grand Hotel Budapest me parece una pelicula con tantos momentos brillantes, graciosos y dramaticos, es un verdadero rompecorazones en comparacion con esta que pretende ser una pelicula mas introspectiva, menos dramatica y menos enfocada en sentimientos que podemos ver, y mas en la lucha interna

Muchas gracias por leer todo esto.

Sort:  

Sucks that you have completely been ignoring everyone commenting on your posts lately. Guess you are just gonna milk from here out?

I had barely managed to make more than 1 post per week... and apparently, I'm just milking now. XD.

I'll try to make time to comment a bit here and there. Thanks for your concern, Wes :)

Nice to see you reply to a comment

I struggled a bit with this one. I like Wes Anderson and have seem pretty much everything he has made, but Asteroid City felt like it went too far on the style over substance. I think The Grand Budapest still had a nice balance to it given each character still had, well, character. Whereas in Asteroid City, everyone seemed quite flat.

unlike you I am just getting to know this director, I had heard about some of his films but it wasn't until a few days ago when I saw Grand Hotel Budapest (excellent film) that I started to dig a little more into Wes Anderson's fever, I am very interested in his first films although I have a hard time finding them in streaming

 last year (edited) 

Yeah, not many streaming services have his works on them for long, especially his older stuff. The curse of streaming services, huh? :^)

I recommend The Darjeeling Limited and Rushmore, some of my favourites of his.

Me siento identificado con lo que dijiste, aprecié mucho Asteroid City en muchos niveles pero me costó conectar con "su historia".

Hotel Budapest es una joya, creo que ya te había recomendado Fantastic Mr.Fox, pero te la vuelvo a recomendar si buscas algo del director un poco más enfocado 🤣

la historia esta un poco dispersa, tampoco ayuda que Anderson haga a sus personajes tan frios en muchos casos, el personaje del padre me costo mucho empatizar con el incluso cuando vemos a su contraparte fuera de escena, aun tengo en la lista a Mr Fantastic Fox a ver si me la veo hoy o mañana y comento mis experiencias por aca, gracias por el comentario

the favorite director of that girl who only drinks coffee and reads books in the rain

I died hahahahahaha

I love Asteroid City, it's somewhat special for me because that's how my brain works, everything happening at the same time with no space to think about it, and I love the way he put it in the film.

I loved the staging in EVERY single shot of the film, very unique how a director can do something like this and even more unique with so many big name actors who are more than likely to lower their salary to work with Anderson and his team

Esta me gustó bastante, entiendo el punto de que la gente dice que la historia a lo mejor no impacta tanto como sus anteriores películas, pero creo que es una historia que ni merece ser juzgada al estar tan más allá de mi mente XD.

Tiene momentos de diálogo que me encantaron, escenas emocionales que conmueven, Jason Schwartzman lo hace brillante...

quizás deja con ganas de más al tener 10000 actores estrellas, obligados a destacar al máximo nivel en sus pocos minutos.