The Squid and the Whale

The Squid and the Whale is a painful movie to watch. It is painful because it is so unabashedly realistic and so brutally honest. It is a family drama dealing with the painful after-effects divorce has on spouses and particularly, on kids. It is a teenage boy coming of age story. It is a movie about many things, but interestingly, it has been categorized by most critics as a comedy and has been nominated for Golden Globe best picture in musical or comedy category. Before anyone goes to see this movie, just be forewarned this movie may be one of the darkest dark comedy in years.

Writer/director Noah Baumbach wrote the script based on his own childhood experiences. Like the Berkman family in the movie, he was a native New Yorker raised in Brooklyn. The two literary parents in the movie, Bernard and Joan Berkman (played by Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney), closely mirror Baumbach’s own parents. His father, Jonathan Baumbach, is a novelist and film critic. His mother, Georgia Brown, used to be a Village Voice film critic. Bernard Berkman even has the same beard as Jonathan Baumbach and wears old clothes that belong to senior Baumbach. According to all the interviews he did for this movie, Noah Baumbach brought his parents into the process once he got close to shooting because he needed to use a lot of things from his childhood that were in their houses. It makes me cringe to think about his parents’ reactions upon seeing this movie (supposedly his parents have both loved it).

The movie is set in 1986 and opens with a doubles tennis match between Berkman family members. It immediately clarifies the family dynamic. Older son, Walt (played by Jesse Eisenberg), idolizes his father and younger son, Frank (played by Owen Kline), adores his mother. It also gets right into the marital tension between the parents by displaying Bernard’s competitiveness against Joan. Noah Baumbach does not waste time to pinpoint any specific moment or reason in the disintegration of this marriage; instead, he focuses on showing a family in emotional transition as truthfully as possible. We see some of the mundane routines in daily lives, witness children’s realization that their parents are flawed human beings, just like everyone else, and agree with Walt’s friend that “joint custody blows”.

Shooting the film on Super 16 has helped Noah Baumbach to be on budget and create a very self-conscious, raw, grainy look for this movie, but for me, the lived-in quality of this film largely lies in its superb writing. Baumbach did not write the script with self-pity or sentimentality in mind. He aimed to explore Berkman family dysfunction matter-of-factly, never opting for easy answers, and imbued plenty of everyday humor throughout the movie (which may have been used by the marketing department to sell the movie as a comedy). His dialogue is crisp and believable; his characters are complicated and multi-dimensional; and his attention to period detail is meticulous. Out of all the authentic characters in this movie, Baumbach’s Bernard Berkman should become a movie classic in the same caliber as Mrs. Robinson. He has captured Bernard’s pretension, self-indulgence, narcissism, egotistic behavior, insecurities and fears with such honesty and wits. It is simply astonishing!

The movie has a solid cast. Younger brother, Frank, may be the hardest to play. Because of his age, he is understandably affected most by his parents’ divorce. Frequently neglected in his parents’ joint custody tussle, he turns to alcohol, curse words and masturbation to express his anger. When he is left alone for three days at home, you cannot help feeling the pain he must be going through. It is a tough role for any child actor, but Owen Klein handles it convincingly. As an offspring of a Hollywood couple (Kevin Klein and Phoebe Cates), he may have witnessed plenty of dysfunctional families and known kids like Frank. Walt has to be a familiar role for Jesse Eisenberg. In recent years, he seems to have been typecast as an awkward teenage boy struggling with his self-identity. His Walt is not a major departure from his role as Nick in 2002’s Roger Dodger, except Walt may be cockier and less sweet. Anyone who has gone through adolescence can identify with Walt’s insecurity, self-doubt, sexual awakening and search for guidance. He puts his father on a pedestal and quotes Bernard’s comments as if it were his own. In the end, when he comes face to face with Bernard’s failures as husband and dad, hurt on his face is indescribable. Laura Linney predictably pulls a good performance as mom, Joan. As she did in Kinsey, she made herself look very plain to add another layer of naturalness to this movie. When Frank said his friend thought her ugly, it comes as no shock to the audience. As a fellow writer, Joan is eclipsing her husband by having her book published. Linney perfectly shows both Joan’s excitement and fear at this crucial time of her life. Billy Baldwin even breaks his usual mode and does a fairly good job playing a tennis pro-turned-club pro with a pot belly visible under his shirt. But the movie belongs to Jeff Daniels. He has never been better and is on top of his game. Working from the best written character in the movie, Daniels makes Bernard completely come alive on screen. He manages to mesh into the character so effortlessly that it is almost impossible to draw the line between the character and acting. From incredibly stupid Harry Dunne in Dumb & Dumber to intellectual snob Bernard Berkman in The Squid and the Whale, Jeff Daniels has truly shown his acting range.

In this movie, Baumbach has used a lot of direct or indirect mirror images that are quite revealing. Four main characters constantly look through mirrors in search of true selves. When Bernard comes to Joan’s house, we often catch his face in multiple reflections in the door’s glass panes. As Joan opens the door, we can understand there may be many sides of Bernard Joan has seen through her 16-year marriage. The character of Bernard’s student, Lili, not only acts as a future source of conflict, but also as a surrogate for young Joan. Joan may have shared Lili’s fascination and adulation of Bernard when she was a college student. Baumbach has also used some simple room decorations as means to express children’s feelings. Walt’s favorite movie poster, The Mother and the Whore, clearly implies his mixed feelings towards his mother; and Frank’s poster of his favorite tennis player is undoubtedly a challenge to his father’s snobbishness. New York also plays a large role in this movie. Parking space shortages in the city is Bernard’s excuse for expressing anger at his life and stagnant career. His request for the kids to stay with him when searching for a parking space shows both his inconsideration for other people and his deep fear of loneliness. My personal favorite scene happens near the end of the movie. Right before he is put into the ambulance, Bernard makes another intellectual romantic gesture to Joan by alluding to a scene in Breathless. When Joan doesn’t understand it, the disconnection between them is so clear that there is no doubt in any audience’s mind this marriage is beyond repair.

The movie has used Pink Floyd’s song, Hey you, brilliantly. I had never been a Pink Floyd’s fan before, but after this movie, I cannot get this song out of my mind. Walt plagiarized the song and performed it as his own to win a school contest. The song is clearly his cry for help, understanding and love, but it also reflects other characters’ feelings of isolation and desires for emotional intimacy. Baumbach disperses pieces of the song whenever the mood requires it, but never overwhelms us with the entire music. It is a wonderful song well chosen for both the time period and story in the movie.

One thing that puzzles me is the movie title. It comes from the Museum of Natural History’s ocean diorama of a giant squid trying to eat a sperm whale. (Incidentally, this year the scientists for the first time captured a live giant squid on camera.) Baumbach said in interviews that as a kid, he had always been taken and terrified by that squid and whale diorama, but never elaborated if there is any deeper meaning behind the title. While watching the movie, I couldn’t help thinking which one of the two parents is squid and which one is whale. I am still trying to figure that one out without any success.

The Squid and the Whale is what all American independent movies should be: It engages the audience rather than being self-indulgent; it provokes strong emotions rather than leaving the audience cold; and above all, it has a strong story to tell rather than just some long still shots to display.

Painful as divorce may be, positives have resulted from both the Berkman and Baumbach breakups: it finally frees Walt from his father’s influence and gives him an opportunity to become his own person; and it gives Noah vast creative material and transforms his personal journey into a rich tour for the audience. Hey you, why not check out this movie?