We are just inventory?

Asteroid City (2023)

Director: Wes Anderson

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/296207471307

This film received mixed reviews. One either loved it or hated it. The trouble is that it needed to be viewed more than once to grasp the essence of the story it attempts to tell. Even most film critics conceded to watching the film multiple times before putting pen to paper to share their two cents' worth.

Wes Anderson films have cult followings. As with all Wes Anderson movies, the most striking aspect is the deliberate choice of comforting light colours, which evoke specific emotions and imbue the story with a nostalgic feel. The images presented on screen are symmetrical; the colours selected come from a particular spectrum; the characters are quirky; and the scenes are interspersed with moments of awkward silence.

This time around, the film centres on two concurrent sets. One, presented in black and white, is a play as narrated by the screenplay and director. The second is set in the present (i.e. 1950s), where nuclear tests are taking place in a remote desert town, Asteroid City. Meanwhile, a stage announcer is seen, seemingly breaking the fourth wall, and perhaps the actors do the same. The actors move between sets, as if everything is merely a continuum, blending the past and the future. This leaves viewers wondering about its true meaning. One must make one's own judgment about the narration. 

The present set features a fictional town in the desert, with its landmark icon being an asteroid allegedly left behind by an alien, hence its name, Asteroid City. It serves as a stopover point for science enthusiasts eager to view a particular constellation in the sky. Coincidentally, a junior astronomy award presentation is also taking place there. 

Angus Steenbeck, a recently widowed war photographer, arrives with his prodigy son, Woodrow, and his three young daughters in Asteroid City. Woodrow is to receive an award. Their car breaks down, forcing all five to stay behind. Although their mother passed away three months prior, Angus has not yet told his children the bad news. Their neighbours at the chalet are Midge Campbell, a weary star, and her teenage daughter, Dinah. Dinah is also to be honoured at a grand ceremony, which will be attended by renowned scientists and high-ranking military officials.

During the event, something strange occurs. An alien spacecraft hovers over the town, and an alien descends to collect the asteroid before disappearing into the night’s darkness. A quarantine is imposed, and a media blackout is enforced, treating the city as a danger zone.

Nestled within this narration is the 'black and white' stage play, where the director recounts the story.

At the end of the day, the key lessons from this film include managing grief, the uncertainty of life, how people often dictate to others how life should be lived, perhaps the question of what is truly presented to us, and likely the question of divinity. We convince ourselves that life ought to be lived in a certain way, as if we possess that knowledge. As if someone has crossed to the other side and returned to tell the tale. What the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us is that nobody truly knows anything. The loudest and most charismatic among us lead, while the rest simply follow. Sometimes, the truth is suppressed to further their personal agendas. The person who controls the news controls the world. No matter how much the truth is buried, it has a way of resurfacing.

Lest remains the unanswered, burning question: Why are we here? What is the plan? Are we merely to create the inventory?

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Extraordinarily Simple!

Marty (1955)

Director: Dilbert Mann

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2016/05/24/movie-review-marty-1955/

Ernest Borgnine was a regular fixture during my terrestrial TV days growing up. He often played the villain in numerous Western films and portrayed a tough soldier in combat movies. The last I recall watching him, he was a smiling, gap-toothed, confident character in ‘Airwolf’.

The 1950s saw Borgnine thrive in Hollywood; however, his opportunities to appear as a leading man sadly diminished as he began to gain weight in the middle and lose it at the top. Then came the audition for ‘Marty’, and he was cast as the hero. 

The 1950s also witnessed movie moguls amassing fortunes from their productions. Simultaneously, tax authorities were hot on their trail, occasionally imposing charges on megastars of up to 94% if they earned more than $ 200,000. Consequently, many looked for loopholes to avoid taxes. Some worked less, while others established shell companies for dubious ventures. 

Burt Lancaster, a self-made man, had precisely that on his mind when he ventured alongside his agent, Harold Hect, to adapt a TV play into a feature film. No one was optimistic that such a monochrome endeavour with a mundane story about an elderly man searching for a wife would make an impact at the box office. This was during a period when studios were thriving with their extravagant films featuring biblical narratives, lavish sets, and vibrant, colourful scenes. 

Lancaster and Hect wanted the film to fail. They did not want it completed; rather, they sought to write it off as a loss.

 

However, the tax authorities were shrewder. They ruled that films must be finished and screened at least once to be considered a failure. Consequently, the producers had no option but to show it in a single cinema in New York with very little publicity. 

The film, largely shot outdoors around New York, attracted the local populace to the cinema. Before long, people were queuing down the block for tickets. Someone decided to send it to Cannes as America’s representative. Hollywood had never won anything at Cannes prior to that. Lo and behold, Marty won the 1955 Palme d’Or, and the rest is history. At the Oscars, it went on to win four Academy Awards, including one for Ernest Borgnine. 

 

Marty became extraordinary due to its simplicity. The storyline resonated with the times when turning 29 made a woman an old maid, a 35-year-old man old, and family values were a high priority. The conversations were mundane and self-deprecating, intensifying the emotional depth of the characters and drawing us closer to their daily lives than in the mid-1950s.

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Not all so chirpy!

Love Me or Leave Me (1955)
Director: Charles Vidor

The world remembers Doris Day as the chirpy, bright, toothy blonde who would brighten up anyone's morning. The pose that strikes most people is her rendition of the song 'Que Sera Sera' in Alfred Hitchcock's 'The Man Who Knew Too Much'. However, in real life, hers was not all sunshine and blue skies.

Growing up from 10 with her single mother, after her father walked on them, Doris Day wanted to be a dancer. After a car accident and a broken leg, she had to abandon her dream. During convalescence, she taught herself to sing. Seeing much potential, her mother sent her to singing classes. Doris soon got singing gigs on the radio and at dinners.

At 20, she delivered her only child. Her husband turned out to be a violent schizophrenic who committed suicide. She had four marriages altogether. Her third husband got her deeply into debt. Her son went on to become a famous record producer and almost signed up Marilyn Manson, the eccentric killer.

In this movie, Doris Day plays the role of Ruth Etting, a famous singer of the swinging twenties. Etting's life story is equally stormy. Starting as a dancing girl, with the help of a mobster, Snyder, she gained fame and fortune as a singer at the prestigious Ziegfeld Follies. She acted in a few short talkies. Even though Etting's love interest is her pianist, she marries Synder out of fear. Synder's frequent anger outbursts and paranoia finally led him to shoot the pianist.

Etting later divorces Snyder and leaves the music scene.

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