Wes Anderson’s formalist filmmaking puts him at the forefront of American movie makers. Lots of directors put stories on the screen, but Anderson’s movies aren’t just about things, they are things. Anderson’s signature color palettes, uniforms, strict framing and conspicuous music cues make his movie’s unmistakable. That said, Asteroid City might have some viewers asking how much is too much when it comes to the Anderson-esque.
Asteroid City is framed as a television production of a play by the renowned stage scribe, Conrad Earp (Edward Norton). The television scenes are shot in black-and-white and introduced by an unnamed series host (Bryan Cranston). Within the full-color alternative universe of the play’s scenes, a photojournalist named Augie Steenbeck (Jason Schwartzman) is driving to the Junior Stargazer Convention with his son Woodrow and Woodrow’s three younger sisters. When their car breaks down Augie’s father-in-law Stanley Zak (Tom Hanks) saves the day and drives the family to the convention. Stanley pressures Augie to tell the kids that their missing mother has actually died. Midge Campbell (Scarlett Johansson), a famous actress, and her daughter Dinah are also at the convention. Woodrow, Dinah and a group of kids are there to be honored for their ambitious science projects. The place is brimming with scientists and ranch hands and school kids on field trips to see the giant asteroid crater that’s the town’s raison d’être. The movie is set sometime in the 1950s and is bookended by scenes set in a roadside diner while atomic bomb tests explode in the distance. After an alien visitor in a UFO disrupts the award ceremony, the conventioneers are all quarantined at the local motel.
Asteroid City is a visually ambitious film even by Wes Anderson’s standards. Cinematographer and Anderson film veteran Robert D. Yeoman had to develop distinctively different lighting and camera styles for the black-and-white television studio scenes and the full-color, sun-blasted shots in Asteroid City. The roadside attraction desert town and the television show stage scenes are all constructed sets that read as deliberately artificial. The fakery is made even more pronounced with the use of elaborate practical miniatures, forced perspective tricks and stop-motion animation. Asteroid City revels in the imaginary and in play — both in the kids’ fun sense and in the theatrical sense.
As with every Wes Anderson production, the look of Asteroid City is a big part of the experience here. And the visual gags, the over-the-top color palettes and retro aesthetics are as sumptuous as they are self-reflexive. But they make a bold and brash wrapper for an adult drama about grief and isolation. Add to the intense visuals the story-within-a-story presentation of the movie as a television stage play production and it’s understandable why even some Anderson super fans might have been less than bowled over during its theatrical run. I think the structure was important to Anderson because the movie’s biggest theme seems to be the “performances” we all put on as the “characters” we play in our real lives as colleagues and parents, spouses, siblings, lovers and even artists. As Augie and Midge develop a relationship during their quarantine, a big part of their courtship is running lines from a script between the open windows of their motel rooms. Schwartzman also plays Jones Hall — the actor playing Augie in the play. Hall confronts the play’s director, Schubert Green insisting that he still doesn’t understand the play. But the director deflects his questions and assures Hall that he has to keep playing Augie the best he can despite his uncertainty. It’s a beautiful and important moment that underlines the movie’s central message about the theatrics of life and lives devoted to theater, but it’s easy to miss in between the aliens, asteroids and atomic bombs.
Asteroid City is currently streaming on Peacock. Or borrow the DVD from Nashville Public Library.
Joe Nolan is a critic, columnist and performing singer/songwriter based in East Nashville. Find out more about his projects at www.joenolan.com.