the squid and the whale (2005)
It's been awhile since I've seen a movie that was this disarming. It opens up to you. The Squid and the Whale is practically a therapy session with a group of people who are desperate to regain a lost feeling of comfort in their lives after being torn apart by divorce. However, the good thing, and perhaps the film's most endearing quality, is the perspective from which the story is told. To be able to take past experiences and turn them into a film like this shows a genuine understanding of the pain that was felt during the events. However, the film's humor suggests a person slightly removed from the situation. There is humor in every situation, it just takes time to fully bring it out. The narrative of the film combines the essence of someone in the situation and someone years removed from the situation, and that is what makes it such a wonderful film.
It starts off as the Berkman family is playing a game of tennis together. Tennis becomes a big part of the film because it symbolizes what the family is going through; the bouncing back and forth of the children over the net that the parents have placed between eachother. The battle lines are drawn by this net in the opening scene as Frank chooses to play on his mother's side and Walt on his father's. It's obvious that the parents are having problems and soon their inevitable divorce occurs. They think they have it all figured out; they will split up the week and have joint custody of the children. It doesn't prove to be so easy. The film intelligently stays away from dividing itself into half of the film being a drama and half of it being a comedy as most films do. The drama and comedy are allowed to coexist in each scene in a way that the characters themselves could only dream to do. The split affects everyone differently but nothing seems to have a greater impact on the children than the knowledge that their mother, played wonderfully by Laura Linney, was having an affair while the two were still together. The youngest, Frank, takes it exceptionally hard. It causes him to attempt to rush into a state of maturity long before he is ready. His behaviors are the parts of the film that I hope are not true to life for Baumbach. The children, uncertain with what to do with themselves, turn even more toward their parents as role models; trying to emulate their every move and hanging on their every word. The trouble is, the parents are falling apart worse than the kids. The film does not condemn anyone for the choice to divorce, but rather simply remarks on the sadness involved in families that are far too distant from eachother, even without something as traumatic as a divorce. Families seem to be falling apart, but divorce rips them at the seams. When Walt tells a childhood story involving only his mother to the school psychologist, the psychologist asks if his father was absent alot during his childhood. In the film's most powerful moment, Walt, with tears in his eyes, tells the psychologist that his father was not absent, but he's not sure exactly where he was. He looks up and simply says "... he might have been right downstairs". It's a brilliant scene that illustrates the feeling of isolation in modern home life. Some of the film's most hilarious moments involve the younger child, Frank, and his newfound love for swearing. Baumbach has a wonderful balance of the light and dark, the comedic and the serious. He knows when to let the scene play out in all of its seriousness and he concludes the film at just the right moment. The conclusion is perfect because it provides hope, but doesn't come right out and tell you that everything will be ok. It evokes the same feeling that Baumbach clearly has towards his own parents divorce; something big and scary in your childhood will turn out to not be so bad once you've grown up a bit and let time run its course.
In way, its an extremely hopeful ending. The cinematography in the film is unique as it gives the feeling of almost a home movie, handheld. It's a nice touch. One of the film's best aspects is its soundtrack, oddly enough. The film takes place in the 80's, giving the music a distinct feel, and it's a welcome one. There is also a very well-used subplot involving the Pink Floyd song "Hey You". This is most definitely one of the best movies this year. It's a tragic, moving, and humorous film about a family falling apart and the ways in which it changes each of their lives.
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