The Squid and the Whale

[RegularKarate]

What a self-indulgence fest.  I'd say Woody Allen-lite, but I want Woody's legacy to be this film like I want The Beatle's legacy to be Charles Manson. ... blah blah blah... unwarranted rant about a film that's nothing like I describe...

So off base that it's funny... I know you were tripping acid or whatever when you saw it and wrote this, but it makes no sense... this film is absolutely NOTHING like Garden State... it's almost the complete opposite... I don't know if you even saw it.

i DO think that people who think anderson concentrates too much on being stylized and think he stands at a distance to smirk at his characters would like this film for being all the things they want anderson to be.  funny and sad and very real.  so recommended highly to both fans and non-fans (GT, you might like this).  B+

That's exactly what I was thinking through this whole thing... Refreshing film in a year full of almost nothing good.

[w/o horse]

My quote followed by your reaction is unfortunate.  It's good to see minimization once again taking place on the board, but if you couldn't see the seeping fumes of hindsight and irony than you're lying to yourself.  I haven't read Baumbach but I'm sure he admits as much.  It was a 'looking back' movie as ever there has been one.  Unless you suffer drama through the tinted glasses of maturity.  The kids weren't kids, the adults weren't adults, and the situations weren't immediate.  It was a New York hipster talking life.  Absolutely.

And I was sober when I saw the film.  Too bad for me.

[RegularKarate]

Oh, then you were drunk when you posted that review?
I thought you said something about you being drunk or something... maybe I was just assuming that.

The "hipster" comment just doesn't make sense... do you mean because it's an independant film?  Do you mean because it was produced by Anderson?  Comparing something like this film to Garden State just makes no sense to me. 

I'm not saying this is the best film of the year, I'm saying you picked a bad film to use as an example of what you were trying to say but never quite said in your "shaken not stirred" thread.

[w/o horse]

I've seen you make compelling arguments, but I'm not seeing one here.

[RegularKarate]

I don't have that much to say outside of what's already been said, but I don't see you saying much other than this movie is too "hipster".

Like I said, it's not the film of the decade for sure... I just feel that it's a poor example for your argument against films like Garden State (which I DO feel is a total wannabe hipster movie).

This fim has warmth and REAL emotion and I've know people EXACTLY like the older son.  It's an event movie though... it's not a statement film, which may have been what you wanted, but not all films are like that.  Sometimes a film is just really good and it doesn't try to be anything else, it doesn't try to "move cinema".  I think that's what this movie was and I really enjoyed it.

[w/o horse]

I've expressed quite exactly several times that I don't think there is real emotion.  You think the older son was real, I say he was stoic, and as flaccid of a character as Ivan.  What emotion were you swepped through in the film?  That's obviously inherently a saracstic question, but I'm literally curious.  To me it was a poor representation of family turmoil, and to repeat:  it was far too much a reconstruction rather than a representation.

[JG]

I've expressed quite exactly several times that I don't think there is real emotion.  You think the older son was real, I say he was stoic, and as flaccid of a character as Ivan.  What emotion were you swepped through in the film?  That's obviously inherently a saracstic question, but I'm literally curious.  To me it was a poor representation of family turmoil, and to repeat:  it was far too much a reconstruction rather than a representation.

It's funny...I read an interview with Baumbach in the Boston Pheonix where he acknowledged that his movies up until now did not contain emotion, or something alone those lines.  But he said this is the first movie where he really felt for the characters.   Personally, I thought all the characters were great...and real.  The problem with most of "these" movies is the characters don't feel real to me and lot of the emotions seem contrived.  Even Ivan, who wasn't really a fully developed character, seemed very real.   I know guys like that.

So, if you were talking about a lot of other movies that come out these days, I would be behind you 100 % Losing the Horse, but this movie is better than that.  It's not like a Wes Anderson movie where all the dialogue is noticeably subtle.   It's just a really nice movie. 

It's certainly one of the better movies to come out in what is shaping up to be a weak year for movies. 

[RegularKarate]

I've expressed quite exactly several times that I don't think there is real emotion.  You think the older son was real, I say he was stoic, and as flaccid of a character as Ivan.  What emotion were you swepped through in the film?  That's obviously inherently a saracstic question, but I'm literally curious.  To me it was a poor representation of family turmoil, and to repeat:  it was far too much a reconstruction rather than a representation.

I saw embarassment, I saw realization, I saw acceptance, I saw (evenutally) compassion.  You obviously didn't see this, but I did, I know it was there.

[ddmarfield]

In relationship to "hipster" movies (i.e., "Garden State"), this film separates itself in that there are no gimmicks (or at least none I can remember). "Garden State" and others like usually have bizarre occurrences just for the sake of something to do, where as"The Squid and the Whale" is rooted firmly in reality.

Personally I thought it was the best film of this year, though I believe it has been a less than stellar year for movies. And as always it may become clear later on that there are some flaws. Still, I enjoyed it quite a bit, as it was like the best parts of Woody Allen and Wes Anderson rolled into one.

[JG]

Right, there's nothing wierd or offbeat about these characters--they are very real.   I think I connect with this more than all of Anderson's movies, except Rushmore--his masterpiece and one of my favorite movies of the nineties.

This is right up there with Capote and Downfall as my number one movie of the year.     

[Figure 8]

I just saw this, and I can't even see how to compare this to something like Garden State.  Like ddmarfield said, I thought this was more rooted in reality than other movies like that.  All the characters just really felt completely real, and I know people like some of them.  All their actions were just exactly what they seemed they should be and it all worked really well.  I don't think this could be something like Garden State, though (especially in popularity), just because of how blatant the movie is and the things it shows.  All in all, I thought it's one of the best of this year.

[w/o horse]

No one in this thread has said the movie is like Garden State but everyone is trying to prove that the movie isn't like Garden State.  Is it because JimmyGator was afraid it was going to be as bad as that movie before he saw this movie, or is it because I said this movie was even more self-indulgent than Garden State?  Either way the movies haven't been compared.

Just to clarify.  People can keep bringing up Garden State if they want.

[nix]

Leaving aside the garden state and wes anderson comparisons and judging the movie purely on it's own merit for a second:

I thought the film overall was very good with a few fantastic moments. The cinematic choices I thought were all successfull, mirroring visually what was happening emotionally. The matter-of-factness of the family's dialouge was interesting, and the kids destructive behavior after the divorce (which could have been chilche and over the top) was handled in a fairly compelling way (some of the fantastic moments were in these sequences). Yeah Ivan wasn't what you'd call a fleshed out character, but this film is obviously focused on the four members of the family and has very little time to realize the periphial players. All you can hope for is a moment here or there that helps you to understand the side characters and I think Baumbach gave us those moments. Yes the movie is emotional, but not hamfistedly so, which I always appreciate. The performances were all great especially the youngest kid, who in many ways had the toughest role. You don't have to be a New York intellectual to relate to these people. There are several scenes that cover simple, true situations that most of us encounter at one time or another.

Also, I thought the use of music was gonna be distracting, but it ended up suppourting the film's tone perfectly.

One of my favs of the year (but as we've said, pretty shitty year so far)

[SHAFTR]

I have to agree with most of the positive statements on here.  I think the film's realness and genuine feeling comes from the fact that the character's quirks rise out of the situation, rather than the opposite (as we see in a lot of films).  Fortunately, I never had to go through a divorce as a child, but I would say that this film is the closest I've ever felt to what that would be like for someone.  It is definitely one of the top 3 movies of the year so far (I'm not quite sure where in the top 3 it falls).

[modage]

Title: The Squid and the Whale
Released: 14th March 2006
SRP: $26.96

Further Details:
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has announced The Squid and the Whale which stars Jeff Daniels, Laura Linney, William Baldwin and Anna Paquin. Based on the true childhood experiences of director Noah Baumbach, The Squid and the Whale tells the story of a patriarch of an eccentric Brooklyn family who once had been a great novelist, but has settled into a teaching job. When his wife  discovers a writing talent of her own, jealousy divides the family, leaving two teenage sons to forge new relationships with their parents. The disc will be available to own from the 14th March, priced at around $26.96. The film itself will be presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, along with English and French Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Extras will include a director audio commentary, a behind the scenes featurette, and an interview with a New York Film Festival Critic. We've attached a small shot of the official package artwork below: