In the mid-50s, in the American provincial town of Asteroid City (population: 87 people), where nuclear bomb tests were conducted, parents with children come from all over the country to attend the traditional Congress of Young Astrologers. It’s being held here for an obvious reason: 3000 years ago, a meteorite fell in these areas, leaving behind an impressive crater.
Among the guests of the local hotel are celebrities this year: depressed actress Midge Campbell (Scarlett Johansson) and war photographer Augie Steenbeck (Jason Schwartzman)mourning the death of his wife (Margot Robbie). Also in town: a few happy parents (Lev Schreiber, Hope Davis, Steve Park), the landlord of the Convention, General Gibson (Jeffrey Wright), his deputy (Tony Revolori), a local observatory scientist, Dr. hickenlooper (Tilda Swinton), middle school teacher June (Maya Falcon), a group of cowboys singing (Rupert Friend, musicians Jarvis Cocker, Seu Jorge and others)hotel manager (Steve Carell)Steenbeck’s father-in-law (Tom Hanks)Car mechanic (Matt Dillon). And actually guys (Jake Ryan, Sophia Lillis, Ethan Josh Lee, Grace Edwards, Aristow Meehan). Also an alien (Jeff Goldblum)His arrival brings confusion to the measured course of Congress.
This is what the play “Asteroid City” (or “Asteroids City”) by the great playwright Konrad Irp looks like (Edward Norton). The film adaptation is the “second layer” of Anderson’s painting. “The First” is a fascinating story about how director Schubert Greene was involved in the staging of this play. (Adrian Brody)played by mercedes ford (Johansson) and Jones Hall (Schwartzman). This story became the basis for a TV show in the spirit of the “Theater 90” anthology with a host similar to the creator of “Twilight Zone” Rod Sterling (Bryan Cranston).
Two movies come out for the price of a movie: a movie (black and white TV show) and a movie in a movie (color, actually, “City of Asteroids”).
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“I’m counting the stars here, but there are no stars to count!” – Appears between the lines in the opening credits of Asteroid City, both the ninth movie and the third cartoon by Wes Anderson. In his eleventh film, the director finally confirms our long-held suspicion: Whether the puppets are in the frame or live actors (by the way, Willem Dafoe didn’t fit in the previous paragraph), he’s making a movie anyway. puppet cartoon The main proof of this is the alien at the same time with actors Goldblum and Anderson in Fantastic Mr. It’s portrayed by animator Kim Kekeleir, who works at Fox and Isle of Dogs. This character exists in all of Anderson’s environments simultaneously and erases the boundary between them.
At this stage it’s already easy in principle to imagine what Anderson’s film would look like on any given subject. The director in any scene will be able to detect the severity of the “Excel” plate with a clear color variation (summer camp, hotel, newspaper office, it doesn’t matter). And then, remove a block from this tablet as if it came from a jenga and watch the result with interest for the rest of the time: a puppet cartoon describing the puppet mayhem in the dollhouse. You can imagine anything else, but only he knows how to shoot like that. This thesis is well exemplified by the same pile of silly neural network fantasies that have sprung up on social networks in recent months on the subject: Star Wars as Wes Anderson, Harry Potter as Wes Anderson, etc.
Clearly because it’s not a matter of breathtaking geometry, a balanced palette, and universal caramelism—that is, the technical stuff of an order that neural networks do pretty well. The truth is, Anderson, like any world-class cinematographer, every time he goes out to give life to his dolls—whether they’re puppets or human puppets. Here, of course, we’re entering the realm of sci-fi memes with Will Smith (“Will a robot compose a symphony? Will a robot turn a piece of canvas into a masterpiece of art?”), but what if that’s right: these movies are about us, not because they’re so beautiful. We are waiting for them to say something.
Asteroid City becomes the site of humanity’s first contact with alien life. But here’s the thing: how to respond to this contact is completely unclear, as a result, people hide their heads in the sands of formalities and especially because everyone already has more important things to do – grief, for example, or love. But even here there is a stumbling block: It is also not entirely clear how to deal with grief and love. As a result, a person is somewhat stuck between unknown life (alien or let’s just say alien) and unknown death (atomic mushroom) – and inventing some formalities that aren’t really helpful for all possible situations. It’s a pretty funny joke to make a highly formalistic movie about it. There’s a second joke that goes something like this: the whole world is a theater, we’re actors in it, but not just actors, but actors who don’t understand their character’s motivation. The trick is that it’s not necessary.
“City of Asteroids” has pretty much the same effect on the audience as a local alien has on local astrologers: It appeared, then disappeared, what is it, but the feeling that it stays with you forever. As a result, all that remains is to mutter something about eternity under your breath. In this context, we recommend: “Look through telescopes and also explore other worlds and lands.” But only on planet Earth is it necessary to have good weather.