Asteroid City: Nihilism and How to Keep Going
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- Опубликовано: 18 июн 2024
- In this video I "explain" Asteroid City by Wes Anderson. AKA my thoughts, theories, analysis, and interpretation of the movie.
Want more video essays to watch? Check this out: • Video Essays
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:52 The Meaning of Life and Death
03:48 Defining Art and Artist
07:10 Chaos and Control
12:14 Existence is Small
29:04 Nothing Matters 
Кино
“You can’t wake up if you don’t fall asleep,”
I think there’s an editorial message here from the filmmaker to his audience about the value of suspension of disbelief. There’s multiple framing devices going on in the film, which is initially confusing to the audience. By the time we get to this line the audience likely has set aside such considerations in favor of the plot and other elements. Then deep in a flashback, the principals turn to face the camera and address the audience directly and repeatedly and employ a chorus to the same effect. This threatens the suspension of disbelief as the audience is clearly being addressed by the filmmaker.
The line is a commentary on this very event. It’s an observation that you can’t arise from a fantasy without first being engrossed in it. Anderson can’t force you out of your suspension of disbelief unless you were in that state to begin with.
And it’s great to suspend your disbelief! It’s what makes cinema, theater, all sorts of stuff wonderful. So do it. Here, Anderson is reminding people of how great suspending one’s disbelief is.
That’s surely not the only, or even most important, element of the line. For Auggie, it's a commentary on him still being in denial over his grief and unable to reach acceptance without first allowing himself to feel the grief.
Thanks for the awesome video.
I love hearing all these different takes on the repeated phrase at the end. This is another great one
The doctors line is actually a bit different concerning having kids ! I only remember because it really struck me, she says something along the lines of "sometimes I wish I had wanted kids". Instead of essentially saying I wish I had kids. Sorta a different thing at least with my interpretation
Four love stories, if you count the parent/son one between Hickenlooper and Woodrow
Yes that makes a world of difference
@@esock2001 I feel like I didn't do the quote justice cant remember it as clear as id wish !
Also in my interpretation, the hand burning scene also points to Augie giving in to feeling grief. Yes, burning your hand hurts like hell, just like grief, but eventually you have to process those feelings, because if you don't they'll haunt you for the rest of your life. Midge told him to use his grief, but in order to use it, he has to give in to feeling it in the first place. It's the first step to rehabilitation, accepting what you feel and facing it head on, thoroughly hurting yourself in order to process the things that made you scarred.
Awesome video by the way, I have watched the movie 3 times at the moment and loving it.
To me the line: “You can’t wake up if you don’t fall asleep” alluded to the idea that you can't emerge from greif without first going deep into it. It's similar to the idea that you can only go *through*, you can't go around. It to me felt like an invitation to allow yourself to feel, to greive, to really delve deep into the place your emotions are taking you. This would be "falling asleep". While you're sleeping, your subconcious mind works through a mass of stimuli and attempts to piece it together into a chaotic chorus of various narratives. The purpose of this is to explore alternative outcomes, live out the best and worst case scenarios and generally just process the huge amount of information we take in during our lives. This is a very visceral phenomenon and really utilises all the emotional reactions we are capable of. Thus, "waking up" is similar to that of waking up in real life from our dreams. We're often still left with lingering emotions from the very immersive emotional processing we just went through, but are forced to confront our current reality - the here and now. We must in this state accept that although the experiences of our dreams were not real, the emotions are, and they are still playing out even as we have awoken and are now starting our day in the real world. There is a kind of acceptance here that we have only one direction we can go at this point. As such, the line was really about understanding that we can't expect to wake up and see the light before we've spent quite a bit of time in the darkness of sleep - whatever those two states mean to you symbolically.
Okay, but how do you relate this to the watching of the film, or more generally to the watching of performances of plays and films? After all it's not just a line of one or even a few characters, just about the entire cast "chants" it at the audience. You are addressing the literal sense of why we need to sleep, or actually dream, but I think it only makes sense if sleeping is a metaphor for watching performances by actors as well as dreaming.
Also I’d like to add during the infamous toaster scene that the actor who plays Augie is also grieving, he was dating/ hooking up with the playwriting of asteroid city (both their names escape me) I think the reason he legitimately burns himself which caused midges actor to break character is because he was using his grief and because of that in a lot of turmoil over the death of his lover
Hence his meltdown and storming off set to ask if he’s doing it right (Doing his lovers character justice)
I actually don’t think he really burns his hand. The actor I mean. Earlier in the movie there’s a scene where Angie’s actor asks the play write why his character burns his hand on the toaster, and they have a discussion about it. So it was written into the play from the start, and I doubt they’d actually act that out on stage (the movie we watch).
@@JEBLego Huh.... no midge definitely breaks character and says oh god you did it, you actually did it. He burns his hand whether to be closer to his character or to escape grief im not sure.
@@JEBLego the playwright wrote the hand burning into the script for Augie to later read knowing that he was planning to kill himself, and knowing it would be some sort of release for Augie
@@JEBLego it's funny, we have to differentiate the real actor Jason Schwartzman, the character in the "play", Jonas Hall, and the character Augie Steenbeck. Both Augie and Jonas "really" burns their hands. No, I don't think the actor Jason did. In other situations we might say Midge was breaking the "fourth wall" but because it's a play within the film, it's more of a depiction of breaking the fourth wall, rather than actually breaking the fourth wall.
Saw this movie 6 times in theaters and 5 times on Blu Ray. My Favorite film of all time. I think it's Wes' best as well.
I am no where as original as you are; I am the lazy guy who gives up too easily , Google’s “ Asteroid City meaning “ and reads a bunch of reviews. Your interpretation is the best by far. There are a couple plot devices I would like explained; I enjoy reading some of the comments that give their interpretation. Your video made me so much more appreciate this movie. I had a lot of anger inside me as I previously thought Wes Anderson was trolling the audience with pretending there is no meaning to life or his movie. Good job!
Thank you! This comment made my day!! :)
I've watched videos on this for over an hour... you by far made more sense than anyone else. Thank you so much for this!
Glad I could help out! Thanks so much!
Good mention about Dr. Hickenlooper. I didn’t notice that line about her never having kids. I thought the character was kinda weird and sketchy until I learned this.
The line is different though. She says that she wonders what life would be if she wished she had kids.
"and everyone starts dancing...", I think, though, that the scene of the little girls doing a makeshift witchy "funeral" for their mother is even more symbolic of this point. It makes no sense and is rather undignified and in it one of the girls expresses a fantasy of her mother coming back to life again, and I think this is symbolic of how we react to the death of loved ones, it is natural while grieving to fantasize that the person comes back to life. And Tom Hanks introduces the scene, saying of the hole dug into the sand "well, it isn't much of a plot" -which I think is a wry winking commentary by Anderson that the film(and play within the film) doesn't really have much of a "plot" either, it's certainly breaking down by this point, but the actors have to go on, as we go on in our lives, in grieving in ways that don't necessarily make much sense.
I think it's also important to remember that NONE of the events we see are real on ANY level. "Asteroid City" being a fictional play means that the meta story of Conrad the playwright is also fictional. All events we see are fictional, created entirely for the purpose of the TV show. I think this is intended to convey the message that we, as humans and as an audience consuming media, must create our own meaning. I think every meta layer within the film conveys this message. At the lowest level, the play "Asteroid City" is about grieving characters confronting mortality and the meaning of life. At the next level, the actors of the characters of "Asteroid City" struggle to find meaning in life and meaning within the text of the play. At the next level, the TV show is TELLING A STORY of existentialism and the search for meaning through the fictional story of Conrad and his play. And finally, as the audience, we are left to create our own meanings for the movie, related to how it personally resonates with each of us. Knowing that all events within the movie are fictional at every meta layer, we have to decide what this means to us.
while that's a good perspective, it is "real" in the sense that these famous actors are participating in the making of the movie, and I don't think Wes Anderson wants us to forget that. On the contrary, there's a lot of reminders that we are actually watching real actors, many quite famous actors, and interact on various sets as actual human beings. I mean it's "real", on some level(s). I think it's meaningful that while Jeff Goldblume pretends to be the actor playing the alien, the alien in the play/film is (fairly obviously) just a CGI effect and not a "real" actor within a costume, not actually Goldblume. There's another level of reality to contemplate.
"It’s a great metaphor. For what? I don’t know to this day. But I know it’s a great metaphor." - Werner Herzog about the massive ship carried over the hill in Fitzcarraldo.
So I think the thing about metaphors is not necessarily what they're about but whether they're great or not. And while it's easy for me to agree with Herzog about Fitzcarraldo, I'm not so sure about all of the metaphors in Asteroid City. I might have to give it another view, as advised 😂
Fantastic analysis! It’s a film that makes you feel “something”, and at other times nothing all, leaving the viewer to wonder what it’s all about. Its a metaphor for life, meaning and meaninglessness, juxtaposing the grandiose with the mundane. Glad you could appreciate it for what it was!
Nice analysis from 23:30 onwards
Really good thoughts!!!
Awesome assessment!
Video shed some light on stuff and it's a good video. Though I'm surprised nobody is talking about the window symbolism it's prominent throughout the entire movie and says so much about everyone
Walked out from the cinema feeling like i understood the gist of it, but yes, wanted to watch it again. Thank you for providing a road map for my next viewing! ❤
it all comes down to this.... there are those people who are AWAKE ,and those who are still ASLEEP as to how our REALITY really works... to those people who are asleep... life seems pointless and confusing at best..... most of them turn to drugs or alcohol to numb their pain and confusion.... but those who are AWAKE and have purpose and direction in life and are happy and at peace with themselves
I don't know; I mean isn't drugs and/or alcohol the same as "going to sleep"? is it the same as saying "you can't become sober if you don't get high?" I don't think you can leave it there unless you think Wes Anderson is encouraging us to use drugs and alcohol sometimes! :P And I don't think that's what he's saying, or maybe he is, idk. Is sobriety over-rated?
when you come here to earth...the "VEIL of FORGETFULNESS" descends upon you, and you(usually) FORGET who you TRULY are...an immortal indestructable being of light, of pure consciousness......we all came here to this Earth planet to learn...to grow, and spiritually EVOLVE ...its a school nothing more...designed for our evolution and entertainment...so have some FUN here while your learning your lessons here in life@@squirlmy
Wonderful video
Wonderful insight!
Thank you !
Asteroid city is legitimately one of my fav films
Thank you! It’s my favorite movie of the year so far!!
this is my favourite analysis on this film, you deserve 10x the views on this, i think this would have been a perfect essay if you reflected more on the romantic connection between Augie and the playwright since this provides an explanation for the ending and for a lot of Augie's behaviour (see @Zombiezay's comment on the burning of the hand on the griddle), i also haven't seen anyone mention the obvious reference to Death of a Salesman on the neon sign in the balcony scene, that classic play features a protagonist who commits suicide by car crash, the fact the playwright wrote in the line about the griddle before he died and that line is later used as an outlet for Augie's pain while reminiscing and "using his grief" is crushingly sad, i interpret the ending line "You can’t wake up if you don’t fall asleep” to be a reflection on the importance of "keeping going" as you continually mention in your analysis, and the necessity of dealing with grief before you can "wake up" anew and reborn (as Augie has to deal with his grief for the playwright), i also think the film (by virtue of being a meta narrative and containing a story within a story) is in conversation with all other stories, specifically with the current state of modern cinema, and i think the lack of meaning and compelling acting in the play Asteroid City is a a critique of the corporate nature and nihilism of modern media (this is doubly reflected by the many video essays concluding that the "point of the movie is that is has no point", which gather plenty of views and clicks) which i find to be a sad misreading of the film
Great takes, brother. Subscribing!
love it ! Keep going
Just watched it and felt kinda meh but your analysis helped me appreciate the little nuances throughout the film.
I haven’t seen the movie since my first viewing a few months back, but I’ve thought more about the Margot Robbie scene thanks to your video, and I think it has to do with some otherworldly closure. It can be seen as another time, another world where Augie gets to talk to his wife one more time, and I think that has some pretty strong implications about the relationship between the play (color) world and the “real” (black and white) world. I think it shows that the “real” world, in this one instance, is serving Augie rather than the play serving/reflecting the real world. In my opinion, it makes some pretty huge statements about life being at the service of art, of art sometimes being the more “real” world, which could be one reason why they chose to make the play world in color.
This colorful world is able to express creativity and feel more passionate and alive, and it’s allowed to “mean” more than our real life, which can become monotonous when we take it for granted. I think this scene can be interpreted in a ton of ways, like the movie as a whole, but I think how I see it gives me a greater respect for Wes Anderson, and possibly a little insight into his perspective. His life serves as inspiration for all the characters he breathes into life. Without his pain, his joys, his moments of laughter, we wouldn’t have the Tenenbaums (and one of Gene Hackman’s last amazing performances with them), Zissou, Zero, etc. In this way, the real world can be seen as the inner-workings of the “art” world, the flesh inside of it, making the scene with Robbie almost a convergence between the two worlds, a dream for Augie, that even if it never happened for him, there’s some other time or place where it might’ve.
(On rereading this I’m not sure if I fully got my point across, or even if I’ve fully developed a point at all, but just speculating and feeling the power of the subtext behind that scene is pretty amazing on its own, and says a lot about how many things this movie made people feel)
Asking what the meaning of life is and seeking purpose is not nihilistic. Nihilism would say there is no meaning and there is no purpose. Those are very different things.
I already watched it 3 times and I'm going to the 4th 😁 Just loved it from the fist time
I don't think Freight Train is about suicide. I'm pretty sure the version in the film is about a woman whose lover is on the run from the police.
30 mins ? niceeeeee lets get into it ! Snack included.
Thank you for making this. I loooved this movie and am really happy to find videos about people talking about it (I don’t know if you saw Mort’s Garage’s video but he also had great insights). You brought up a lot of things I hadn’t specifically thought about and some things I completely agree on you with.
I also interpreted the offstage scenes as the in between of life and death. A big theme that stood out in my mind was art and fiction vs fact and science. I didn’t see Midge as becoming the character she played but playing those characters as a result of the trauma she experienced. I didn’t really think about Augie expressing his grief in the play as healing; I just thought it was them “playing out” their relationship. But when you said that I thought of “Body Keeps Score” talking about play as healing and Anderson pointing to art as healing. Alternatively the alien is this big real thing that affects everyone but also doesn’t. The existentialism was there before the alien came and then there seemed to be this big plot with releasing the info but things went back to normal when he returned the asteroid and everyone went home (I didn’t think about the importance of the inventorying). What we assume will be the big thing is usually not the big thing. It’s usually the intimate moments.
So when Margot Robbie’s character is in it feels like such a relief, because she’s just an actor for the archetype of the person you have lost. Anyone any of us. Someone who died or you grew apart from. It doesn’t matter that it’s this woman that the actor doesn’t have a personal connection to or that the scene was cut. There’s relief and comfort and art can provide that and art does because it connects to a “higher power” but also ourselves (under spiritual oneness if that makes sense).
For me the “you can’t wake up if you don’t fall asleep” was referring to that spiritual idea of us being God scattered into various experiences and limiting our perception to experience the diversity of life. There’s catharsis when you remember you are part of the bigger thing but if you don’t “forget/sleep” you don’t get the catharsis of “remembering/waking up.”
You are on the money. You let out the real world. It complets, critics and informs the themes.
I'm wonderin' if Scheuber is actually dead.
The stage show area reminds me of a version of the backrooms.
you know what ? I'm just thinking that we got self insurances about making our marks on the existence even imaginary marks that's why we can realizing that the characters in the show are afraid of making marks we are just toying with our pictorial extensions in the movie .but some people cannot see it the way that we are doing in the real life or in the movie.
so dance the space men haddly doo .
are you high? 🤣👽
@@squirlmy now that I'm reading this back I'm getting afraid that maybe I was.😂
Imo, Wes A. Films are literally about the building of the world and lore behind it. Plot means nothing, dialogue is there to be funny.
It's really stressed upon a send watch that the production of Astroid City is all faked for the TV program. It's not a real play, a play faked for the program. It's all just fake and there to show you parts of the theater world, from set design to musical numbers to scenes.
Its a terrible movie. You're mostly just describing the scenes, which doesn't explain anything
I keep seeing people make this criticism. Can't you just admit you don't understand it? Maybe it is terrible, but you seem to be insisting it is even when obviously many people do like it, enough to make YT videos and discuss and comment. It's okay to say you don't like it. But if other people enjoy it when you can't, maybe it's not really "terrible"?
Clifford dares to exist but he built something that destroys matter. Also, why the repeat police chase with the gunfire down the center of the town that no one comments on? Also, why hasn't anyone mentioned the open carry pistols?;)
Eerily similar to real life
I think the car chase and the atom bomb tests represent the chaos of life. The people who have been in the city for a long time aren't at all phased by it, but everyone else initially is. But when crazy, unpredictable things happen, all you can do is accept that these crazy things will happen, and you won't be ready for it, so you just have to lean out the window and take a picture
The police chases, the atom bombs, the people are asleep to, these. Metaphor.
@@cameragirl242 Perfect thank you!
@@cameragirl242 YES