Frances
Ha at first seems like it’s going to be your typical indie film about a
struggling artist fighting the good fight for an hour and some before finally
breaking through and showing everyone around them, that yes they did indeed
have the power. As it turns out, thankfully, Frances Ha is not that film and
frankly I should have known better, seeing as this yet another Buambauch triumph,
Greenberg, Squid and the Whale, hipsters and film studies students should have queued
up their film boners right about now. Instead what we get is a film about a
woman who has just entered the real world and struggles to find her place in it.
Frances
is young, beautiful, in a frumpy natural sort of way, and completely relatable.
This rests solely on Gerwig, who performs marvelously. She is magical as the
whimsical Frances. A neurotic mess, but not a creepy one, rather compassionate
and soulful to a fault. Gerwig deftly mixes in jittery exaggerated movements to
liven up her words as she uses carefully chosen enunciation and pauses to
further involve the viewer in the character’s insecurities. Gerwig is simply
sublime yet sadly overlooked in this year’s boisterous awards season.
The
secondary character’s all serve to further along Frances struggle through life.
Adam Driver plays a variation of his Girls role, a quirky artist with
questionable morality and social sense. Except, he isn’t an over bearing piece
of furniture in this film. He is a full-fledged character with a real personal
philosophy rather than a series of quirky moments.
Michael Zegen is the other
standout in a secondary role. This guy is on a role, taking on all manners of
roles of varying temperance and knocking each one out of the park. Zegen brings life and maturity to a character
that’s already been done to death. He is not annoying, nor is he tiresome, both
these things have equal due to the acting and the writing.
Baumbauch
and Gerwig have written an exquisite narrative that is whimsical, baffling,
heartwarming and enlightening all at the same time in many instances. The
characters are all written with care and tenderness, they aren’t caricatures of
clichés, rather they are reflections of the real world, only ever slightly
exaggerated to prove a point. The dialogues in large groups cross cuts
frantically and eloquently allowing you to follow each narrative strand, even
as jokes and witticisms fill the air.
There are even moments of banality in the dialogue that conveys meaning
and spirit in the words not said as the awkward pauses commence. The narrative,
much like Frances, is a disjointed mess of quick cuts that take the character
through a short time in her life an extremely fast pace. The film doesn’t
really have a true narrative, but rather through a series of moments in one
woman’s life held together through the glue of themes. It’s grand adventure, whimsical like a Wes
Anderson film but grounded enough in reality to remain relatable with a modicum
of real rather than kitsch. Buambauch and Gerwig navigate the angst of the new
working generation with care and grace. Further the finale is extremely
fulfilling, specifically because it does not give in to viewer expectation. You
don’t get to see what you want or expect, Gerwig and Baumbauch give you what
you need.
The
film isn’t simply a wonderful narrative strung together with performances, its
cinematography is striking and the music is engrossingly well chosen. Shot in
black and white, with all the right angles, its use of contrast never ceases to
amaze. The way the light shines off Sophie’s glasses in the darkness, or the
way Paris looks under the black and white gaze is striking to say the least. It
reminds one of Sin City, except it’s natural and not shot on green screen. It’s
natural, beautifully so.
The
music is wonderfully picked. It’s all low key hipster stuff, but without making
one feel like a douche for enjoying it. Not that faux hip underground stuff you
get in mainstream, young adult movies. No this is the real deal and it serves
to heighten every scene. It’s almost as if Baumbach and Gerwig stole the music
selectors from HBO and made them choose the most perfect music all without ever
making you feel like a douchebag for enjoying it.
The
film is a great statement to the world. It’s not about following your goals or
telling you how special you are. It’s focused on reality. It doesn’t need
cutesy hipsterism and the latest fashion trends to prove its point or drive its
story, I’m looking at you Girls. It
doesn’t need a colour palette from an acid trip and characters that all fall
under the category of quirky oddball, Wes Anderson. It gets by on strong
narrative, exquisite performances and a narrative that is wonderfully endearing
while simultaneously touching. Anyone who is a fan of Baumbauch or Girls should
watch this film. It will bring warmth and joy as it resolves, even if it isn’t
what you hoped that resolution would bring.
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