The Squid and the Whale was written and directed by Noah Baumbach, son of Georgia Brown (writer, movie critic for the Village Voice, now apparently living in Italy) and Jonathan Baumbach (writer; according to his website: “An unintentionally well-kept secret among contemporary American novelists. Author of 14 books of fiction.”) The film depicts the breakup of a fictional family based on the filmmaker's own, focusing on the dynamics between two sons and their parents in Park Slope, Brooklyn, beginning in 1986.
When the film begins, Joan Berkman (Laura Linney) and Bernard Berkman (Jeff Daniels) are in crisis mode after seventeen years of marriage. The tensions are established quickly by way of an indoor tennis match pitting Bernard and older son Walt (Jesse Eisenberg) against Joan and younger son Frank (Owen Kline, son of actors Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates). Bernard, family patriarch, is obviously loaded with hostility, and the viewer soon learns why.
The family is in disarray. Bernard, a Creative Writing/English professor, has stalled in his writing career. Joan, frustrated and restless, is now an aspiring and suddenly successful writer (ego threat!) This power shift causes dramatic change, and the sons are caught in the middle. As the separation battle begins, reinforcements are brought in -- Ivan (William Baldwin) for Joan, Lili (Anna Paquin) for Bernard, and Sophie (Halley Feiffer) for Walt.
The film, shot on location in and around Brooklyn (reportedly in less than a month), has as an urgent, intimate, immediate feel, replete with close ups, hand held shots, and deft editing.
The Squid and the Whale is an excellent adult/writer's film. The ensemble cast is superb. More details to follow in a separate post. It's worth noting here that Noah Baumbach is married to actor Jennifer Jason Leigh, one of my favorites. Also, Jeff Daniels has a home base in Chelsea, Michigan, where he founded and directs The Purple Rose Theatre Company.
Today's Rune: Growth.
Birthdays: Sidney Sheldon, Thomas Edison, Lydia Child.
No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn!
1 comment:
I never even heard of this movie, but it sounds worth seeing.
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