The Swimming Song
The Squid and the Whale
by Shawn Snead / December 29th, 2005
Details are so important in a film. Luckily for us, Noah Baumbach knows this. You feel as if you're there with these characters for the film's short 80 minute running time. Even though what you see from these characters may only be what they're allowing you to see.
Noah Baumbach's script is extremely personal. It's based mostly from personal experience, dealing with his parents' divorce as a teenager, and that gave us that personal, genuine narrative and character interaction. The very effective music compilation is also rather important to the film. Not only placing us in 1986, but giving us a better insight into these characters throughout the film.
You can't write about the acting without starting with Jeff Daniels. His captivating, heartbreaking turn here is his best performance. His character of Bernard, the father figure in the family, is an extremely complex character. Daniels plays him perfectly. The mother in the family, Joan, is also wonderfully played here by Laura Linney. These two characters have to deal with their painful divorce, coping with their two sons during this ordeal, and trying to move on as a quasi-civilized family. Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney are revelations.
Jesse Eisenberg, who plays the eldest son, Walt, is exceptional. Every character is so well-written here, so layered. But, I think that Walt just may be the character with the most on his plate. His parents are getting divorced, as the eldest son he has to try to hold everything together. All the while dealing with the natural troubles of being a teenager in high school, dealing with women, his future, and himself. Eisenberg hits every right note here. Owen Kline is also very effective as the youngest son, Frank. His character is maybe 12, so you can only imagine what seeing his family crumbling before his young eyes can do to a boy's mind. He acts out at school, at home. He is mentally, maternally, and sexually confused. His entire character can really be regarded as a metaphor for the mental aspect of divorce.
The title is a reference to an art display at the Museum of Natural History in New York. The battle between the squid and the whale. It's a perfect metaphor for the battle that he'd experience between his mother and father. Though, some could interpret it as son vs. father. It represents so many things in the film, Noah Baumbach had to have used it as a muse while creating this incredible achievement.
As a child, Walt could never see the squid and the whale at the museum without looking through his hands, he could never really stand and look at it. Just like the state of his family. He says earlier in the film that he can't tell if it's the squid killing the whale, or the whale killing the squid. He sees the same thing in his parents' divorce. But, Walt goes back to that museum at the end of the film to see the squid and the whale. He goes to look at the situation for himself, all alone. He can accept it, just like his parents and their divorce. The metamorphosis is complete. That final scene of Walt standing in front of the squid and the whale is just so effectively ambiguous, so perfect.
Noah Baumbach's semi-autobiographical story of his parents divorce is bittersweet, honest, and one of the best films of the year.
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Written and directed by Noah Baumbach; produced by Wes Anderson, Charlie Corwin, Clara Markowicz, Peter Newman; music compilation by Britta Phillips, Dean Wareham; cinematography by Robert D. Yeoman; editing by Tim Streeto; released by IDP, Samuel Goldwyn Films. Running time 88 minutes. Rated R for strong sexual content, graphic dialogue and language. Released October 5th, 2005 (NY); wider expansions throughout the fall/winter.
Starring Jeff Daniels (Bernard Berkman), Laura Linney (Joan Berkman), Jesse Eisenberg (Walt Berkman), Owen Kline (Frank Berkman), William Baldwin (Ivan), Anna Paquin (Lili), Halley Feiffer (Sophie), David Benger (Carl).
posted by Shawn Snead @ 12/30/2005 02:58:00 AM
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