"The tragedy of the storyteller: you tell stories about your life until telling stories is your life, and then the only emotionally truthful stories you can tell are about telling stories." A really amazing summary of a phenomenon which you see so often, particularly in the most successful filmmakers/writers. I think it's a really good argument for an artist branching out from their art and spending time in the rest of the world, completely separate from art - because you need impetus from something else to avoid your art becoming self-referential to the point of, well, not being as good as it once was. Great video!

We can also consider the director character being overall absent from the production, choosing to sleep in his improvised stage apartment. This could be saying how the work is alive and well without the director, almost as if the work grows legs and lives on its own. This could be how Anderson feels about his success?

Other than this being a story about storytelling and acting, as well as an existential allegory, I also see themes of grief and the processing of it. “You can’t wake up if you don’t fall asleep”

I just got home back from the theater, and I have to say I am pretty confused. It isn’t the type of confusion that’s frustrating, rather, I’m okay with it. Seeing other interpretations is helping me put the pieces together, but I think the line that stuck with me was when Auggie asked if he was “doing it right”, as he “doesn’t understand the play.” I don’t think any of us really understand a lot of the world around us, but we put our questions aside to be as we are. Nobody will ever understand everything, so rather than dwelling on what we don’t know, we should “fall asleep” and do what we

I love the way in which Wes Anderson playfully mocks the art of storytelling. The lead actor is sleeping with the playwright because of course he is. Scarlett Johansson is an actress playing an actress playing an actress. Fred Armisen as the kooky character actor who pops in toward the end. Margot Robbie could have worn anything on the balcony, but putting her in a dress reminiscent of her role in “Mary Queen of Scotts” is perhaps meta-commentary on how often we retell those stories.

Nice art school word salad.

One of the best movies I have ever seen. Every scene a painting, every dialogue is poetry. I love it.

This is a really good breakdown.

Adore the thoughts here and definitely fleshed out some feelings I had after watching it. Though I did find myself more emotionally moved by this one than a lot of his previous work. I feel some aspect just hit me in the right way at the right time.

Interesting and well-put, but I think you miss how Anderson uses artistic expression as an analogue for coming to terms with mortality and the mysteries of life. An actor playing a part without fully understanding the character’s motivations is equated with people continuing to live their lives after confirmation of alien existence, and indeed a widower trying to cope with the void left by the death of the person he loved most.

You know that feeling you have when you think you’ve got a pretty good idea of what’s going on and are about to share, when someone else starts talking about the same thing and you quickly realize that they are on a whole other level, so you just sit there, listen, and keep your mouth shut. That was my experience with this video. Brings back memories of philosophy class in college… bravo to you sir.

I think the film is about the 5 stages of the grieving process. Every grieving process starts with a "shock event," followed by 1. denial, 2. anger, 3. bargaining, 4. depression/grief, and 5. acceptance.

Amidst the fantastic analysis of Anderson’s recent work, and how this film sits within the director’s shift toward a meta-modern framework, I love that you made time to recognise that Asteroid City still brought those classic Wes Anderson gut punch moments with it. Big up the Freight Train song …

I feel like I'm alone in interpreting the black and white scenes of the theater being entirely in Augie's subconscious, as what happens in them seems relevant to only him and his emotions.

I thought there was a connection to how art and movies are described as a dream but they shout repeatedly that "you can't wake up if you don't fall asleep" like for an artist it's not a dream this is how to see the world in this context. Wes Anderson says watching a good play is as engrossing as watching a movie and is continued in the actors when they leave the stage to live their lives. Art that you make is a chunk of you and Art you consume becomes part of you as well

I like your funny words magic man

I was deeply confused by Asteroid City, even tho i know almost all of Wes Andersons movies. Left with the feeling there was a lot of meta meaning. I was overwhelmed by all the small details and couldn't grasp it.

Insane how well this was put together considering asteroid city has came out so recently

It is refreshing to hear a movie critique that doesn't start with "I really liked this movie" and go down hill from there. I would love to hear your take on Moonrise Kingdom as it is one of my favorite Wes Anderson films as well as one of my overall favorites.

Taylor out here staying the best film creator on yt