A stage director and his actor wife struggle through a grueling, coast-to-coast divorce that pushes them to their personal and creative extremes.
Noah Baumbach's Marriage story is a complete film in my opinion.He navigates the audience into some sincere and uncomfortable emotional territory as he follows a couple going through a divorce.
The film begins with Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) and Charlie (Adam Driver) reading a list of each other’s special qualities. We soon find that they are reciting their lists, not as endearments, but as an assignment from the mediator. A lot of credit goes to Baumbach who not only crafts the film behind the camera but provides a sharp script providing both sides of the argument. Both the characters are well written and you just see them as they are. The characters and conflicts are so well thought out that even if you side with one of the characters you don’t feel that the other one is poorly motivated in any way. Another strength of the film are the supporting characters. Especially the two cutthroat lawyers played by Laura Dern and Ray Liotta, and Alan Alda as the soft and charming lawyer. Though this film is emotionally heavy, yet it has plenty of comedic moments in it.
The cinematography was brilliant. The framing and blocking of the characters within the scene was well thought out, which shouldn’t be a surprise as the film was heavily rehearsed, almost like a play. The movie was shot on film and gives it a nostalgic feel to it. There are two instances in the film where a long take is used and in both the scenes, the two characters are the only ones speaking or singing. The editing is absolutely fantastic in this film. The use of close ups in the more intense scenes or the use master shots when Nicole visits Charlie at his place is done brilliantly. Music is pretty good and it goes perfectly with visuals and the story. The strength of the film lies in the writing and the acting.
This is film making at its finest, a brilliant film.
No comments:
Post a Comment