It is 1986. Bernard Berkman is an arrogant, once-promising novelist whose career has gone into a slow decline; he cannot find an agent. His wife, Joan, has recently begun publishing her own work to widespread acclaim, which only increases the growing tension between them.
One day, Bernard and Joan tell their two sons, 16-year-old Walt and 12-year-old Frank, that they are separating, with Bernard renting a house on the other side of Prospect Park from their home in Park Slope, Brooklyn. The parents agree to joint custody, and to spending equal time with their children, but, after separation, the parental relationship becomes more combative than before.
Joan begins dating Ivan, Frank's tennis instructor, and Bernard starts sharing his new house with Lili, one of his students. The two boys begin taking sides in the battle between their parents, with Frank siding with their mother and Walt with their father. Walt idolizes their father and tries to emulate him: he blames their mother.
Along with the trouble both boys exhibit verbally with their parents, they also show internal struggles and very different ways of handling the stress of their parents' divorce. Frank repeatedly masturbates at school; he begins to drink beer and imitates Ivan's mannerisms. Over-influenced by his father, Walt spoils his relationship with Sophie, his girlfriend, and she breaks up with him. He performs and claims to have written "Hey You" by Pink Floyd at his school's talent show. After he wins first place and receives praise from his family and friends, his school realizes that he did not write the song. At this point, the school calls Bernard and Joan in to discuss Walt. They all agree that he should see a therapist.
At the meeting with the therapist, Walt starts to see things without the taint of his father's opinions. The therapist asks Walt for a happy memory. After some reluctance, he tells how his mother would take him, when he was very young, to see the giant squid and whale exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History; the exhibit scared him, so he would look at it through his fingers. Then, at home, they would discuss what they saw. As they talked, the exhibit would become less scary. It becomes clear to Walt that his father was never really present, and that his mother was the one who cared for him.
After a heated argument between Bernard and Joan over custody and whether Joan would take him back, Bernard collapses on the street outside their home and is taken to the hospital. Bernard asks Walt to stay by his side, but Walt instead runs to the Natural History Museum. The film ends with him standing in front of the exhibit, now able to look at it.
Noah Baumbach looked to documentaries, French New Wave films, and John Cassavetes and early Martin Scorsese films when envisioning the style of the film.[8] He shot the film in Super 16 rather than digital video "to give the film an authentic 1980’s feel", commenting "Super 16 also feels lived-in, instantly looks like an older film. I wanted to handhold the movie, but steadily, so you detect only a hint of movement. It added to the immediacy of the whole thing."[9]
The screenplay was intentionally pared down. Baumbach explained, "I really wanted this [film] to be an experience that people live through. Which is how people talk about action films. In some ways, maybe the cinematic equivalent of that would be not to give people moments of reflection. So that you’re taken through each scene, and then you’re right into another. A lot of scenes start on the dialogue, and the dialogue prelapses the next scene — So you never have time. There’s no sun rises over Brooklyn shot, no establishing shot."[9] Baumbach has said the film is semi-autobiographical.[9][8]
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 92% approval rating, based on 154 reviews, with an average rating of 7.90/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "This is a piercingly honest, acidly witty look at divorce and its impact on a family."[10] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 82 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[11]
On an episode of Ebert & Roeper, both critics praised the film and gave it a "two thumbs up" rating.[12][13]Premiere critic Glenn Kenny praised the film, writing, "It's a rare film that can be convincingly tender, bitterly funny, and ruthlessly cutting over the course of fewer than 90 minutes. The Squid and the Whale not only manages this, it also contains moments that sock you with all three qualities at the same time."[14]Time critic Richard Corliss wrote, "The Squid and the Whale is domestic tragedy recollected as comedy: a film whose catalog of deceits and embarrassments, and of love pratfalling over itself, makes it as (excruciatingly) painful as it is (exhilaratingly) funny."[15]
The film was released on DVD on March 21, 2006 by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The DVD includes a 45-minute commentary with director Noah Baumbach, another 40-minute commentary with Baumbach and Phillip Lopate, cast interviews, and trailers. In 2013 Mill Creek Entertainment released the film for the first time on Blu-ray in a 2 pack set with Running with Scissors. All extras were dropped for the Blu-ray release.[29]
The Criterion Collection re-released the film on DVD and Blu-ray on November 22, 2016 which included new interviews with Baumbach and actors Jeff Daniels, Jesse Eisenberg, Owen Kline and Laura Linney; a new conversation about the score and other music in the film between Baumbach and composers Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips; a 2005 documentary titled Behind The Squid and the Whale; audition footage; and the original trailers.[30]
Music
The soundtrack features two songs by Loudon Wainwright III and one by Kate & Anna McGarrigle. It reuses Tangerine Dream's "Love on a Real Train", from Risky Business, for the scenes of Frank's sexual awakenings. Other contemporary popular music is played in the background of scenes, such as The Cars' "Drive" and Bryan Adams' "Run to You". "Figure Eight", from Schoolhouse Rock, is used as both an instrumental and a vocal. Pink Floyd's "Hey You" is heard several times in the movie, since it plays a role in the plot and is cited by Walt as capturing his emotional state. Both the original version, and diegetic performances by Jesse Eisenberg and Owen Kline, are used. Baumbach originally wanted to use The Who's "Behind Blue Eyes" instead but he could not secure the rights.[31]
Laura Leggett Linney is an American actress. She is the recipient of several awards, including two Golden Globe Awards and four Primetime Emmy Awards, and has been nominated for three Academy Awards and five Tony Awards.
Noah Baumbach is an American film director and screenwriter. He is known for making comedies set in New York City and his works are inspired by writer-directors such as Woody Allen and Whit Stillman. His frequent collaborators include Wes Anderson, Adam Driver, and his wife, Greta Gerwig.
The 71st New York Film Critics Circle Awards, honoring the best in film for 2005, were announced on 12 December 2005 and presented on 8 January 2006.
The 40th National Society of Film Critics Awards, given on 7 January 2006, honored the best in film for 2005.
The 31st Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, given by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, honored the best in film for 2005.
The 18th Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, given by the CFCA on January 9, 2006, honored the best in film for 2005.
The 9th Toronto Film Critics Association Awards, honoring the best in film for 2005, were given on 21 December 2005.
The 77th National Board of Review Awards, honoring the best in film for 2005, were given on 10 January 2006.
The 9th Online Film Critics Society Awards, honoring the best in film for 2005, were given on 16 January 2006.
The 4th Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards, honoring the best in filmmaking in 2005, were given on December 12, 2005.
Dean Wareham is an American musician and actor who co-founded the band Galaxie 500 in 1987. He departed from Galaxie 500 in April 1991 and went on to establish the band Luna. Following Luna's dissolution in 2005, Wareham has collaborated on albums with fellow Luna band member Britta Phillips, forming the duo known as Dean and Britta. They have also ventured into film composition, notably contributing to the soundtracks of Noah Baumbach's films The Squid and the Whale and Mistress America. In 2014, Wareham released a self-titled album and in 2015, he reformed Luna.
The 1st Austin Film Critics Association Awards honored the best in filmmaking for 2005.
Britta Phillips is an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and actress.
The Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Breakthrough Performance is an annual film award given by the Online Film Critics Society to honor the best breakthrough performance of the year.
Margot at the Wedding is a 2007 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Noah Baumbach. It stars Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jack Black, John Turturro, Ciarán Hinds and Halley Feiffer. The film is about the familial storm that arises when Margot, a writer, comes to visit her sister Pauline on the eve of her wedding.
Dean & Britta is a musical duo consisting of Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips, both members of Luna. Wareham had formed Luna in 1991 after leaving his first band, Galaxie 500. Phillips joined Luna in 2000, replacing bassist Justin Harwood.
Greenberg is a 2010 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Noah Baumbach, who wrote the screenplay and co-wrote the story with his then-wife Jennifer Jason Leigh. The film stars Ben Stiller, Greta Gerwig, Rhys Ifans, and Leigh, with Mark Duplass, Merritt Wever, Chris Messina, Brie Larson, Juno Temple, Jake Paltrow, and Dave Franco in supporting roles. The film's soundtrack features the first film score by James Murphy.
Mistress America is a 2015 American comedy film directed by Noah Baumbach. It was written by Baumbach and Greta Gerwig, and stars Gerwig and Lola Kirke. The film was released on August 14, 2015, by Fox Searchlight Pictures.
Owen Joseph Kline is an American filmmaker and actor. He is best known for his directorial debut Funny Pages (2022) and his performance as Frank Berkman in The Squid and the Whale (2005).
↑ "Elizabethtown/Where the Truth Lies/Domino/North Country/Separate Lies/The Squid and the Whale". October 15, 2005. Ebert & Roeper. Season 20. Episode 20. ABC.
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