Returning to the neighborhood where he
grew up to make "The Squid and the Whale," his most
personal movie to date, Park Slope native Noah Baumbach says
he not only relived powerful childhood emotions, but also uncovered
valuable clues regarding the direction he wants to take his work.
"In a way, ’The Squid and the Whale’ feels like my first
film," the 35-year-old filmmaker told GO Brooklyn. "It
technically is my third film, but it feels like the first one.
From the script stage, all the way to making the movie, I kind
of feel like I discovered the kind of writer-director that I
am and want to be."
Best-known for his 1997 relationship comedy, "Mr. Jealousy,"
featuring Annabella Sciorra and Eric Stoltz, the Midwood High
School and Vassar graduate made his debut with the 1995 ensemble
comedy "Kicking and Screaming" and most recently co-wrote
the script for last year’s quirky sea adventure, "The Life
Aquatic with Steve Zissou," with that movie’s director,
Wes Anderson.
Starring Laura Linney, Jeff Daniels, William Baldwin and Anna
Paquin, Baumbach’s latest film is based on his own experiences
as one of two brothers caught in the throes of their parents’
divorce in 1986 Park Slope. A hit at this year’s Sundance Film
Festival, the film garnered screenwriting and directing awards
for its young auteur.
Just as his first film, "Kicking and Screaming," was
included in the New York Film Festival in 1995, "The Squid
and the Whale" will be screened as part of this year’s festival
on Sept. 26 and Sept. 28. The film opens in New York City on
Oct. 5.
"It was great to see the film get laughs and then the audience
get quiet at certain points," Baumbach said of watching
"The Squid and the Whale" with various festival crowds.
"It also played, I thought, similarly each screening, which
was nice. Positively, but, also, it wasn’t like there were strange
laughs in places I didn’t expect them."
The filmmaker went on to credit his comfort level with the material
for allowing him to create a funny, poignant fiction that rings
true with audiences.
"I think I was able very much to write from a very personal
place without a filter," noted the son of film critics Georgia
Brown and Jonathan Baumbach. "Without worrying about what
people would think – like, ’Is this commercial?’ – stuff that
screenwriters can distract themselves with. Because I was drawing
on very personal experience, I was able to write more clearly
and more effectively than I have before. The script is very fictionalized,
as well, but I felt like [that at] every stage, there is what
you have in your head and what ends up on the screen and, for
me, this is the closest the two have ever been."
Baumbach said that in an effort to keep things authentic while
shooting the film, he dressed Daniels in his father’s clothes
and decorated the sets with some of his mother’s books and furniture.
"It’s not like I wanted it to be like: ’That’s my daddy!
That’s my mommy!’" the filmmaker assured with a laugh. "By
having an emotional connection to these things, it just put me
more into the head space of the material and I think it just
fuels me in a way."
Although the movie is often hilarious, it does focus on one of
the most painful trials in Baumbach’s life, not surprisingly
making it one of the most emotional writing processes the filmmaker
has ever experienced.
"I found myself getting angry or anxious writing certain
scenes," he confided. "I had a much more visceral response.
I think by the time it gets cast and you’re shooting it [that
goes away]. Occasionally, I would have like a Proustian jolt
to my childhood, like, ’God, this really does feel like my living
room.’
"We were shooting in Park Slope, where I grew up, but at
that point, for me, once you’re directing the film you have so
many things on your mind, you don’t really have time to get too
emotional about anything. I think in the editing stage, certain
scenes as you’re putting them together, I kind of connected back
to the mindset of when I was writing.
"It’s a loaded thing. It’s very much inspired by my childhood,
so I was obviously getting stuff out. I’d lived with this story
for 20 years before I started writing it," he continued.
"So, to get it down on paper and actually make it into a
movie that works at all was a big deal, but then at the same
time, I think I also was discovering that even if this movie
was about cops or science fiction, I was also just discovering
on even a technical and visceral level the kind of filmmaker
that I always knew I could be, but I don’t think I quite ever
tapped into."
Baumbach’s still not quite sure how "The Squid and the Whale"
fits into the history of films made and set in Brooklyn.
"For me, it was more about telling this story and the Brooklyn
that I knew, so it wasn’t like I was thinking, ’Boy, I’m going
to show Brooklyn in a way no one’s seen before,’" he said.
"But, I was pleased when I heard people tell me they think
it’s a great Brooklyn movie. So, it’s nice to know I backed into
that somehow."
"The Squid and the Whale,"
directed by Noah Baumbach, opens in New York City on Oct. 5 following
its screenings at the New York Film Festival on Sept. 26 at 6
pm and Sept. 28 at 9 pm at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall,
65th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Tickets are $16 and $20.
A discussion with the filmmaker and reception will take place
Oct. 2 at 7 pm at the Stanley H. Kaplan penthouse in Lincoln
Center’s Rose building. Tickets are $20. For more information,
call (212) 875-5050 or visit www.filmlinc.com.
