Noah Baumbach Tackles Tough Themes In His Movies. Here’s Why They’re Worth Watching.
Life is not always pretty. There are ups and downs. Hardships and successes. Laughter and tears. Good and bad. It’s why we have poetry, films, and novels. They help us to digest the unknowns with which we must tackle as we progress through our own journey in this world. And if you’re struggling, you may find solace in some of Noah Baumbach’s films.
A prominent director with origins rooted in New York, Noah Baumbach has a knack for capturing hard moments in the lives of his fictional characters, providing a landscape that we can all empathize with.
Noah Baumbach shows a deep sensitivity towards struggling artists and how they manage relationships in his films, repeatedly tackling a similar setting head on in films like The Squid And The Whale, Margot At The Wedding, Marriage Story, and The Meyerowitz Stories.
Each of these movies have a common thread: they depict an artist in crisis, struggling to manage his/her professional and personal life. Even though they’re similar, these movies stand out in their own unique way, showing a different side of human nature in each one.
The Squid And The Whale (2005)
One of Noah Baumbach’s earlier films, The Squid And The Whale is a story of a couple, Joan Berkman and Bernard Berkman, struggling to maintain a strong connection with their children as they go through a divorce.
They’re both writers and Joan (Played by Laura Linney) enjoys considerable success in her career, a sore point for her husband. When they separate, we see a marked difference in their lifestyles, reflected by the ups and downs of their literary endeavours. If you’re looking for rawness in a film, this one has it.
Margot At The Wedding (2007)
In this film, we see two sisters in different parts of their lives. Margot (Nicole Kidman) has a kid and is about to leave her husband. Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is ready to get married to Malcolm (Jack Black), a failing artist who’s unemployed.
The film grapples with multiple themes including divorce, sibling relationships, infidelity, narcissism etc. There are plenty of anti-heroes, making you undecided on who’s good or bad. Each character has their own flaws, making for a richly layered potrayal of suburban life.
The Meyerowitz Stories (2017)
Noah Baumbach shows us what it’s like to live in a family of artists with crumbling aspirations in The Meyerowitz Stories. Danny Meyerowitz (Adam Sandler) — a talented but unemployed pianist— is forced to move in with his father Harold Meyerowitz (Dustin Hoffman) who is a semi-successful sculptor struggling to get in the door of major exhibitions.
Despite the apparent sadness in each character’s life, The Meyerowitz Stories has comedy throughout, making the film more humorous than tragic. Ben Stiller, who plays Matthew Meyerowitz, makes the mood lighter in this film through his pairing with Adam Sandler.
Marriage Story (2019)
Marriage Story portrays a relatively young couple ready to separate with a small child to take care of. Charlie (Adam Driver) is a successful director of musicals and plays in New York, casting his wife Nicole (Scarlett Johannson) in several of his productions.
As divorce papers get passed around, the issue of where to raise their child comes up repeatedly: New York or Los Angeles? This highlights a broader reality often experienced by artists. Which is the better city for creatives? Where should Charlie pursue his career?
Unique Marks Of Baumbach’s Style: Choppy Camera Angles, Well-Crafted Dialogue
In these movies, the camera is never perfectly still, giving a realistic feel to what you’re seeing at that moment. He also sometimes opts for closer camera angles in films like Marriage Story where the focus is mainly on two characters: Nicole and Charlie, the couple.
And the dialogue is sometimes the best part of his movies, revealing the intricacies of his characters. We see this especially with Nicole Kidman in Margot At The Wedding who shows her narcissism repeatedly with every line.
What’s Next For Noah Baumbach?
The director recently collaborated with his partner Greta Gerwig to make the film Barbie, now a box office hit internationally. He also made White Noise last year, starring Adam Driver and Don Cheadle. While there are no plans disclosed publicly for a film yet, we’ll hopefully see something new.
