Frances Ha (2013) D: Noah Baumbach S: Greta Gerwig
#27
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Re: Frances Ha (2013) D: Noah Baumbach S: Greta Gerwig
Finally got to see this, and I really liked it. Quirky for sure, but I laughed quite a bit too.
Love the scene where she has to follow around the important woman and pour her drink.
Didn't realize one of the supporting women was Meryl Streep's daughter.
Love the scene where she has to follow around the important woman and pour her drink.
Didn't realize one of the supporting women was Meryl Streep's daughter.
#29
DVD Talk Hero - 2023 TOTY Award Winner
Re: Frances Ha (2013) D: Noah Baumbach S: Greta Gerwig
Finally got to see this one tonight. I'd pretty much echo what Throwing Copper said. It was quirky and endearing and fun and featured a very good performance by Gerwig. It is the sort of movie that will make you smile (and frown) a lot more than it will make you laugh or cry.
The movie is a series of pretty distinct acts over a several month period in the main character's life. She begins in a place of contentment but substantial fragility and lack of direction and ends up finding her way, laying the groundwork for her future. The story had a real ring of truth to it. I would only really fault the film in its transition to the final act, which I found a bit rushed. The running time was only 86 minutes. Another five minutes to flesh things out near the end may have helped.
Overall, definitely an for me.
The movie is a series of pretty distinct acts over a several month period in the main character's life. She begins in a place of contentment but substantial fragility and lack of direction and ends up finding her way, laying the groundwork for her future. The story had a real ring of truth to it. I would only really fault the film in its transition to the final act, which I found a bit rushed. The running time was only 86 minutes. Another five minutes to flesh things out near the end may have helped.
Overall, definitely an for me.
#30
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Re: Frances Ha (2013) D: Noah Baumbach S: Greta Gerwig
Saw this last night and loved it. I was concerned going in since people had been making (false, it turns out) comparisons to that Lena Dunham crap, Girls.
This was vastly more intelligent and well-directed. It is also hyper specific without trying too hard. Frances is definitely a "type" and one rarely portrayed on screen well. This type of specific portrayal, along with the black and white cinematography made the film feel fresh in an authentic New Wave way even if it was borrowing signifiers from those films. Almost like a Tarantino-homage to the French New Wave in that Baumbach paid homage to a style in a film crafted to seem very much an authentic member of that class of film (like Kill Bill: Kung Fu and Inglorious Basterds:Men on a Mission films).
Overall, highly enjoyable and completely surpassed my tempered expectations.
This was vastly more intelligent and well-directed. It is also hyper specific without trying too hard. Frances is definitely a "type" and one rarely portrayed on screen well. This type of specific portrayal, along with the black and white cinematography made the film feel fresh in an authentic New Wave way even if it was borrowing signifiers from those films. Almost like a Tarantino-homage to the French New Wave in that Baumbach paid homage to a style in a film crafted to seem very much an authentic member of that class of film (like Kill Bill: Kung Fu and Inglorious Basterds:Men on a Mission films).
Overall, highly enjoyable and completely surpassed my tempered expectations.
#31
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Re: Frances Ha (2013) D: Noah Baumbach S: Greta Gerwig
Damsels in Distress was great. I love comedies were you're never quite sure if the creators/cast are being serious or not.
Frances Ha is good and sublime in parts, but suffers from films like Shame which have a flawed protagonist. This film is even worse, in a way.
It's about an hour and fifteen minutes of the character losing control of her life (albeit in this case, in an educated middle-class way that's mostly entertaining to watch), then...
(not really a spoiler)
No character growth. Or perhaps it was too subtle and I was not clever enough to pick up on it.
Frances Ha is good and sublime in parts, but suffers from films like Shame which have a flawed protagonist. This film is even worse, in a way.
It's about an hour and fifteen minutes of the character losing control of her life (albeit in this case, in an educated middle-class way that's mostly entertaining to watch), then...
(not really a spoiler)
Spoiler:
No character growth. Or perhaps it was too subtle and I was not clever enough to pick up on it.
#32
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Re: Frances Ha (2013) D: Noah Baumbach S: Greta Gerwig
No character growth. Or perhaps it was too subtle and I was not clever enough to pick up on it.
#33
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Re: Frances Ha (2013) D: Noah Baumbach S: Greta Gerwig
Frances Ha is good and sublime in parts, but suffers from films like Shame which have a flawed protagonist. This film is even worse, in a way.
It's about an hour and fifteen minutes of the character losing control of her life (albeit in this case, in an educated middle-class way that's mostly entertaining to watch), then...
(not really a spoiler)
No character growth. Or perhaps it was too subtle and I was not clever enough to pick up on it.
It's about an hour and fifteen minutes of the character losing control of her life (albeit in this case, in an educated middle-class way that's mostly entertaining to watch), then...
(not really a spoiler)
Spoiler:
No character growth. Or perhaps it was too subtle and I was not clever enough to pick up on it.
I think the fact that you both viewed the third act as some sort of unrealistic achievement is a testament to how well the film does in establishing Frances as a character that her personal victory is seen similarly by the audience, as a huge deal, when if we take a few steps back, is not exactly out of character or realm of possibility at all and never was.
#34
DVD Talk Hero - 2023 TOTY Award Winner
Re: Frances Ha (2013) D: Noah Baumbach S: Greta Gerwig
I think the fact that you both viewed the third act as some sort of unrealistic achievement is a testament to how well the film does in establishing Frances as a character that her personal victory is seen similarly by the audience, as a huge deal, when if we take a few steps back, is not exactly out of character or realm of possibility at all and never was.
There were chronological jumps between each act, sometimes pretty substantial ones. However, prior to the end, it was easy for the audience to quickly and comfortably speculate as to how she got from points A to B to C, to fill in the blanks more or less. That mechanism worked well until the end.
#35
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Re: Frances Ha (2013) D: Noah Baumbach S: Greta Gerwig
Your description bears no resemblance to what I have said at all. I agree that the ending was realistic in terms of what the character could have accomplished. What I said was simply that the ending was rushed and that the film could have used an additional transitory act prior to the ending.
There were chronological jumps between each act, sometimes pretty substantial ones. However, prior to the end, it was easy for the audience to quickly and comfortably speculate as to how she got from points A to B to C, to fill in the blanks more or less. That mechanism worked well until the end.
There were chronological jumps between each act, sometimes pretty substantial ones. However, prior to the end, it was easy for the audience to quickly and comfortably speculate as to how she got from points A to B to C, to fill in the blanks more or less. That mechanism worked well until the end.
I don't see how the chronological jump from Act 2 to 3 was any less intuitive than throughout the film. The job she takes that enables Act 3 to even take place was brought into the plot in Act 2. If anything, the transition from Act 2 to 3 seemed the most fluid and intuitive. She was offered a position that provided the opportunities she seized upon in Act 3 in Act 2, in between Acts 2 and 3 she hits rock bottom in upstate NY after refusing the Act 2 position, rock bottom then has her go back on her Act 2 decision in Act 3.
Of all the jumps in the film, I think that was the shortest.
#36
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Re: Frances Ha (2013) D: Noah Baumbach S: Greta Gerwig
This comes out in November on the Criterion Collection. I'm gonna have to pick that up.
I love Gerwig.
I love Gerwig.
#37
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: Frances Ha (2013) D: Noah Baumbach S: Greta Gerwig
I just finished watching this and wanted to hear what others thought. I am a little biased because I'm a big Noah Baumbach fan and immensely enjoy his dialogue. Although unfamiliar with the lead actress, I wound up being quite impressed on all levels.
By then end, I wanted to see more of the characters and where they were going with their lives. I feel this film would be a good vehicle to launch a cable TV series, kind of like what Dunham did with Tiny Furniture.
By then end, I wanted to see more of the characters and where they were going with their lives. I feel this film would be a good vehicle to launch a cable TV series, kind of like what Dunham did with Tiny Furniture.
#39
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#41
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Re: Frances Ha (2013) D: Noah Baumbach S: Greta Gerwig
I have to say (and I think I'm in the minority on this) but I thought this movie was pointless pretentious drivel.
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Re: Frances Ha (2013) D: Noah Baumbach S: Greta Gerwig
I couldn't tolerate this film. I lasted 25 minutes but nothing was really going on and they all seemed like c unts.
#45
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Frances Ha (2013) D: Noah Baumbach S: Greta Gerwig
Finally watched this and it was not as grating as I thought it would be. Frances was a bit aloof, but so darned cute. Caught it on FilmStruck. Definitely liked it more than Lady Bird.