The Squid and the Whale

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The Squid and the Whale

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Noah Baumbach
Produced by Wes Anderson
Written by Noah Baumbach
Starring Jeff Daniels
Laura Linney
Jesse Eisenberg
Owen Kline
Music by Britta Phillips
Dean Wareham
Cinematography Robert D. Yeoman
Distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films
Release date(s) January 23, 2005 (Sundance Film Festival)
October 5, 2005 (wide)
Running time 81 min.
Country USA
Language English
Budget $1.5 million
Gross revenue $7,362,100
Followed by Margot at the Wedding
Official website
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile
The film's namesake exhibit.
The film's namesake exhibit.

The Squid and the Whale is a 2005 drama film written and directed by Noah Baumbach. It tells the semi-autobiographical story of two boys in Brooklyn dealing with their parents' divorce in the 1980s. The film is named after a giant squid and sperm whale diorama found at the American Museum of Natural History. The film was shot on Super 16mm, mostly using a handheld camera. The film is rated R for strong sexual content, graphic dialogue, and language.

The Squid and the Whale was a success with critics. At the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, the film won awards for best dramatic direction and screenwriting, and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. Baumbach later received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. The film received six Independent Spirit Award nominations and three Golden Globe nominations. The New York Film Critics Circle, Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the National Board of Review voted its screenplay the year's best.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Bernard Berkman (Jeff Daniels) is a once-great novelist whose career has gone into a slow decline as he spends more time teaching and less time writing. His wife, Joan (Laura Linney), has recently begun publishing her own work to widespread acclaim, which only increases the growing tension between them. One day, Bernard and Joan's two sons—16-year-old Walt (Jesse Eisenberg) and 12-year-old Frank (Owen Kline)—are told that their parents are separating, with Bernard renting a house on the other side of Prospect Park from their home in Park Slope, Brooklyn. As the parents set up a schedule for spending time with their children, Walt and Frank can hardly imagine that things could get more combative between their folks, but they do, as Joan begins dating Ivan (William Baldwin), Frank's tennis instructor, and Bernard starts sharing his new house with Lili (Anna Paquin), one of his students. Meanwhile, the two boys begin taking sides in the battle between their parents, with Walt taking after his father and Frank siding with his mother.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Reception

The Squid and the Whale was met with critical acclaim. It scored 82 out of 100 on Metacritic[1] according to 37 critics and 94% on RottenTomatoes. On an episode of Ebert & Roeper, both critics praised the film and gave it a "two thumbs up" rating. In Roger Ebert's print review, he wrote, "All I know is, it is better to be the whale than the squid. Whales inspire major novels."

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."

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."

The film appeared on over 200 critics' top ten lists of 2005.[citation needed]

[edit] Awards

[edit] DVD release

The film was released on DVD on March 21, 2006 by Sony Pictures. The DVD includes a 45-minute commentary with director Noah Baumbach, another 40-minute commentary with Baumbach and Philip Lopate, cast interviews, and trailers.

[edit] Soundtrack

The soundtrack features two songs by Loudon Wainwright III and one by Kate and Anna McGarrigle. Wainwright and Kate McGarrigle were briefly married during the 1970s and had two children, Rufus Wainwright and Martha Wainwright (both of whom are now also accomplished singer/songwriters). The two Loudon Wainwright III songs are from the 1973 album Attempted Mustache, on which McGarrigle has a significant influence. "Lullaby" was influenced by the birth of Rufus Wainwright, while "The Swimming Song" features both Loudon Wainwright and McGarrigle on the five-string banjo (an instrument that McGarrigle taught Wainwright how to play). The film makes many references to Risky Business, including the original score from the film. Baumbach originally wanted to use the Who's "Behind Blue Eyes" instead of Pink Floyd's "Hey You," but he could not secure the rights to the former.

[edit] Track listing

  1. "Park Slope" - Britta Phillips & Dean Wareham
  2. "Courting Blues" - Bert Jansch
  3. "Holland Tunnel" - John Phillips
  4. "Lullaby" - Loudon Wainwright III
  5. "Heart Like a Wheel" - Kate & Anna McGarrigle
  6. "The Bright New Year" - Bert Jansch
  7. "Drive" - The Cars
  8. "Let's Go" - The Feelies
  9. "Figure Eight" - Blossom Dearie
  10. "Come Sing Me a Happy Song to Prove We All Can Get Along the Lumpy, Bumpy, Long & Dusty Road" - Bert Jansch
  11. "Hey You " - Pink Floyd (Performed by Dean Wareham)
  12. "Family Conference" - Britta Phillips & Dean Wareham
  13. "Street Hassle" - Lou Reed
  14. "The Swimming Song" - Loudon Wainwright III

[edit] References

  1. ^ Squid and the Whale, The (2005): Reviews

[edit] External links