Aging happens to us all. Whether it's the moment you realise that you're not a child anymore, or the day you understand that you can no longer get away with a student lifestyle; aging is certain, whether we like it or not.
While We're Young
This is an ongoing theme in cult director Noah Baumbach's work, who often states that his films are autobiographical in a sense. Taking inspiration from his own experiences and life-stage anxiety, his latest project While We're Young is a clever comedy about realising that you're not as young as you use to be and the futile fight against growing up.
As While We're Young arrives in cinemas this Friday, we take a look at how Noah Baumbach's films tackle transitional moments about growing up and growing old.
- Kicking and Screaming (1995)
Noah Baumbach's first film, about a group of recent college graduates who are finding it difficult to move on, demonstrated that the filmmaker had a knack for acute observation and razor-sharp dialogue.
Highlighting the tragi-comic period between your educational years, when you are told that anything is possible, to the stark reality of the 'real world,' Baumbach's characters have heads filled with knowledge, but use it on pointless challenges with each other, such as daring the group to name five films with 'monkeys' in the title. By the end of the film, there has been break ups and failed starts, but the characters are finding their way, and that's what matters.
Baumbach has proved that he is a terrific observational filmmaker over the years, and that really all started with Kicking and Screaming. The director really seems to understand this generation and the detail that he incorporates in the film is terrific.
While Kicking and Screaming will not be remembered as Baumbach's best movie, it is a funny and smart film that introduced this new writer and director and tipped him as a major talent to watch going forward.
- The Squid and the Whale (2005)
Based on the childhood experiences of the filmmaker, The Squid and the Whale is an emotional account of two boys during their parents' divorce. Walt (Jesse Eisenberg) initially sides with his father, as he feels he takes after him, while younger brother Frank (Owen Kline) supports his mother.
As the brothers witness further hostility between their parents, they act out in various ways with Jesse ultimately being ordered to visit the school psychologist. It is only through talking to a neutral party that the teen sees things without his father's toxic opinions and comes to realise that the man he looks up to has been a selfish father.
The Squid and the Whale was only the third feature film from Baumbach and it had been ten years since he had made his debut with Kicking and Screaming - yet he had come so far as both a writer and a filmmaker.
The Squid and the Whale is one of the most honest movies of Baumbach's career to date as it really does delve into divorce and the massive impact that it has on the whole family - the powerful emotion in this movie really is incredibly powerful stuff.
The Squid and the Whale is a straightforward family story, and yet Baumbach has delivered a film that is funny, powerful, and emotional and will be a movie that so many people will understand and relate to. In my opinion, this remains the best film of his career to date.
- Greenberg (2010)
Baumbach returned to the director's chair in 2010 with Greenberg, a film that saw him team up with Ben Stiller for the first time.
Charting a period of transition for a carpenter who goes to housesit his successful brother's home after a breakdown, Greenberg is a story of lost souls finding direction in life. Stating bluntly that he is there to do nothing, Roger Greenberg (Stiller) comes in contact with young personal assistant Florence (Greta Gerwig) who wants to achieve something in life but doesn't know where to start.
As the pair butt heads with each other over several weeks and have their own issues to sort out, they ultimately fall for each other.
Greenberg is not the most likeable film character that you will ever see and yet Stiller delivers a terrific performance and something completely different to anything we had seen in his career thus far.
This is a dark and, at times, quite miserable character and story, and so will not appeal to everyone. However, Baumbach is a director who is driven by stories and character and Greenburg is a terrific character study piece.
- Frances Ha (2012)
Collaborating again with Greta Gerwig, the writer/director created a truthful and amusing story about the thin line between being a young adult and an adult, set against a gorgeous black and white New York backdrop.
Frances (Gerwig) is a dancer who is drifting away from her best friend and decides to throw herself into her dreams. Unconsciously echoing Annie Hall, Baumbach and Gerwig create a loveable and flawed character in which to showcase the years spent trying to work out what kind of grown up you're going to be.
Frances Ha is another terrific character study from this director as he explored the life of this terribly insecure woman - which resulted in a fantastic central performance from Gerwig.
Frances Ha is a young woman who is charming and totally endearing; not to mention she is someone that we can all relate to. We have all gone through that stage where we don't know who we are, what we want, or where our place is in the world and the jealousy we feel towards those who have found all of those things.
The movie is also beautifully shot and New York becomes as much a character in the film as Frances herself. Baumbach has shot the city in a way where it comes to life and breathes - it really is a beautiful looking movie.
- While We're Young (2015)
Baumbach's upcoming film While We're Young, centres around a forty-something couple (Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts) whose friends all seem to be starting families, while they struggle with the concept of parenthood - a great early scene sees the pair struggle to remember the story of the Three Little Pigs while they babysit.
They get a new lust for life when they begin hanging out with a twenty-something hipster couple (Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfried) who seem to worship the retro lifestyle that the older couple have rejected.
The filmmaker continues his incredible use of observational comedy as he comments on how people look at others to define themselves in his funny, and most accessible, work to date.
While We're Young is released 3rd April.
Tagged in Noah Baumbach