Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story” will, most likely, be premiering at Toronto, Venice, Telluride and New York. Not many films can claim to be doing this quadruple-feat. Last year it was Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma,” this year Baumbach’s film takes that elusive spot … and the hype train has already begun.
“It has two really strong performances and a great script,” said TIFF head Cameron Bailey at yesterday’s announcement of the TIFF lineup. However, today we got a buzz-piece from IndieWire’s Eric Kohn, which all but seals our expectations for Baumbach’s movie. The “hype-train” has arrived indeed. The title of Kohn’s write-up: ‘Marriage Story’: Noah Baumbach On How His ‘Extremely Personal’ Movie Became His Most Ambitious.’
The 136 minutes long running time makes it ambitious in itself but even more fascinating is Baumbach deciding to name-check Ingmar Bergman but, more specifically, “Persona,” “Marriage Story” doesn’t have anything to do with the plot, but more with the craftsmanship.
“I knew I wanted a lot of closeups in this movie. It’s a movie where you often have two people in a space together, and I loved how he would frame those actresses,” said Baumbach.
A few other interesting quotes:
“The technique takes hold from the opening moments, as Johansson bounds into center frame at the start of an absorbing seven-minute montage set to Randy Newman’s vibrant score.”
“In the most startling exmple, Johansson delivers a revealing monologue to her lawyer over the course of a single five-minute take. “It was helpful thinking of her while I was writing it, that she’d have the guts to to do that,” Baumbach said. “It’s a lot of words on the page. When you give the script to people, their eyes are rolling when they reach that part, but I could imagine her in that room. It’s almost casual in the beginning and suddenly becomes very direct. She’s like an athlete.”
“I think there are a lot of hidden genres in the movie,” Baumbach said. “There’s a hidden thriller, a procedural, a romantic comedy, a tragic love story. I felt like this was a subject that could handle all those things.”
This does sound like primal Baumbach. Starting with his 1995 debut “Kicking and Screaming,” the New York filmmaker has given us vital American statements about friendships and relationships. Peak Baumbach for me would be “The Squid and the Whale,” “France Ha” and “Greenberg” but this latest movie does sound like a major step-forward in dramatic storytelling.
Edward Berger seems to have settled on what comes next. His Lance Armstrong biopic, starring Austin Butler, is now holding casting calls, with production eyed for January.