NOMINEE: (Wes Anderson) Palme d'Ore Cannes International Film Festival.
The multitude of Wes Anderson fans out there need not read this. They'll already be lined up for a ticket, and will exit their respective cinemas with not a disappointed demeanour in sight. We are talking classic Wes Anderson here. I'll go as far as to say from a palette POV, Asteroid City is possibly his most brilliant. Every shot is so rich in image, colour and frame. Anderson has quite simply revolutionised cinema by combining pop-art (comic style) with live action drama, which then takes 'deadpan' to a level Mack Sennett would be proud of.
So, with that said, if you are visiting the Wes Anderson experience for the first time, I'm not sure ASTEROID CITY is your best option. In fact I would suggest THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL or MOONRISE KINGDOM might be better starting points.
ASTEROID CITY is a dense, rich story, devised by Anderson during lockdown. Here Conrad Earp (Edward Norton) could be Anderson sitting at a typewriter tapping out a play; the play we are about to watch (in 3 acts). We are quickly introduced to all the actors who are playing the various roles. And the story? well, it's a story not easily defined. It becomes a series of "deadpan" skits asking questions about government subterfuge, family ties, death, fame, loyalty and finally, life beyond Earth, in no particular order, and with no priority.
I'm an unabated Anderson fan, so while I'm convinced Wes doesn't necessarily demand that we should come to any definite conclusions about his films, he likely asks that you take what you like from his stories. Here I think that his idea has been nurtured while in isolation and here he imagines another world, Asteroid City, where a 'potpourri' of people are forced to spend time together, not because of a virus, but because of a Beyond Earth event! A very silly out of earth event, nothing unusual when told via the imagination of Anderson. 10GUMS.
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