How 'Asteroid City’s' Cast Interprets That Cryptic Line From Wes Anderson’s New Film

Cinema Blend

Interview with Adrien Brody and Jeffrey Wright from Asteroid City.

Transcript

00:00 So, there's one line from this movie that has just rolled around in my head since the

00:06 lights went up and I wanted to ask you what your thoughts were on it.

00:09 "Can't wake up if you don't go to sleep."

00:11 Yes, exactly.

00:12 What does that mean to you?

00:14 That was not predictable at all.

00:16 I don't know.

00:17 What does it mean to you?

00:21 When I watched it within the context of everything going on now, there was something about in

00:32 my head that related to staying awake, staying woke.

00:43 Maybe that was just me imposing, but I liked it.

00:46 I liked it.

00:50 There's another reference, similar reference in French Dispatch.

00:54 "Nous ne sommes pas sleepy."

00:56 We're not sleepy.

00:58 With the students.

00:59 Right?

01:00 So, I don't know.

01:01 There's a theme that Wes may be playing with.

01:05 Keep your eyes open.

01:09 Watch them.

01:10 Well, it's a little bit of a Zen koan.

01:16 With my interpretation, where you can't quite understand it intellectually, but the idea

01:22 of waking up, waking up to the present moment, waking up to wonder, I think that's kind of

01:27 what Wes is pointing to.

01:32 There is something that's beyond what we can understand.

01:37 What Adrian Brody's character is saying to Jason's character about just keep telling

01:41 a story.

01:42 You're doing great.

01:43 You don't need to understand.

01:45 Just keep moving forward.

01:47 Because this movie is aimed at today's audience, to me it's about, I feel every day that I'm

01:54 just battling this wave of information and digital content.

01:59 To me, it's about saying, "We have to put it down and go to sleep and wake up."

02:08 It's very literal in a way.

02:11 We have to find a way to get back to a more natural rhythm of actually detaching from

02:16 the world, letting your brain shut down, so you can actually be with the person that you're

02:21 facing the next day, rather than everyone existing in this half awake, half there, half

02:27 not there.

02:29 I think this is something that Wes must have a strong opinion about, because you never

02:32 see him distracted.

02:34 I've never seen him hold a phone, or I don't know if he has a phone.

02:37 I think it's like, we've got to reconnect.

02:41 I think we tend to, especially because we're all connected to social media and whatever,

02:46 we tend to walk around in this trance state.

02:49 It's kind of a call to, "Hey, wake up.

02:51 There's something happening right in front of you, right here, right now."

02:54 I think it means if you don't take the time to rest and to let go, you'll never really

03:03 have awareness of what is happening in the world around you.

03:08 I think anyone can have a different interpretation, but like, awakeness in terms of spiritual

03:14 awakeness and presence in your own life, being present, and that you can't really be present

03:19 if you don't let yourself rest.

03:21 Yeah.

03:22 I would go a little bit more into the meditation side of things.

03:26 I think it's about shedding the ego and the sense of I, and remembering that everything

03:31 is connected.

03:32 If you want to enter that dream, and it is a true dream, then you do have to drop this

03:37 notion of us and them.

03:38 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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