I already love my BFFS but Francis Ha professed it
Remember how I wrote about Baumbach coming really close to letting men cry on screen? So I just watched another movie, not knowing he was the director, called Francis Ha. Directed two years before While We're Young but also featuring Adam Driver. He didn't let any men cry in this one either, wait he didn't let anyone cry in Francis Ha, not even the women. Oh I suppose I no longer need to pick that crying bone in this case.
If I made a movie, using all the absurd videos I capture of the people in my life using an iPhone, it would look like Francis Ha. I don't say this to belittle Baumbach's talent. I say it out of admiration because unlike me, he actually used a professional camera and semi professional acting and went ahead. By semi professional I am referring to the mumblecore genre of indie films where they let the actors, characters and improvisation take the lead to build a more believable and natural effect into a film.
Shot all in black and white, kind of like using all those 'noir', 'silver tine' or 'sepia' effects on instagram and apple photos to shoot videos so the video feels more significant or holds more weight in the same way old movie or family heirloom does. The plot however is modern, the tribulations so mundane and relatable they meld with your own life and very contemporary. Using music instead of storytelling to propel the plot forward Baumback recreates little anecdotes, character flaws, stories about "that" crazy friend we all have, ambitious dreams, New York, hope and aspirations into a film for everyone to consume.
Well, maybe not everyone.
I watched this film on a recommendation from a friend. We sometimes discuss movies that we really like and we usually like films that are slightly off-kilter. One of three friends (who discuss movies) is a going to be a filmmaker one day, so you catch my drift.
Francis Ha starring Greta Gerwig (who also directed) and Mickey Summer is a love story about two best friends whose friendship has a character arc. No, they aren't lesbians and that's not important here. They are just two best friends showing you what its like to have a best friend you love, value, support and cherish. At the same time it takes you on many other journeys about pursuing dreams, lovers, coming out of relationships, moving, being broke and acclimating with the many transitions that comprise adulthood. Its the stuff no one tells you, no one specific gives you advice about, not even self-help books cover (like Lilly's Singh's How to be a Bawse, highly recommend) or actually stuff you could even anticipate.
Instead it teaches you that life is an experience and the only way to be prepared for it is by going through it. Granted sometimes you have to go around or skip a few things but only when you go through, ahead, forward and onward can you be prepared for what happens once you get
through, ahead, forward and onward.
If none of this makes sense but you really want to get what I am talking about it, you should watch Frances Ha. As of this day and month (May 2019) it is available on Netflix.
image credits: Google Images < AnOther Mag
If I made a movie, using all the absurd videos I capture of the people in my life using an iPhone, it would look like Francis Ha. I don't say this to belittle Baumbach's talent. I say it out of admiration because unlike me, he actually used a professional camera and semi professional acting and went ahead. By semi professional I am referring to the mumblecore genre of indie films where they let the actors, characters and improvisation take the lead to build a more believable and natural effect into a film.
Shot all in black and white, kind of like using all those 'noir', 'silver tine' or 'sepia' effects on instagram and apple photos to shoot videos so the video feels more significant or holds more weight in the same way old movie or family heirloom does. The plot however is modern, the tribulations so mundane and relatable they meld with your own life and very contemporary. Using music instead of storytelling to propel the plot forward Baumback recreates little anecdotes, character flaws, stories about "that" crazy friend we all have, ambitious dreams, New York, hope and aspirations into a film for everyone to consume.
Well, maybe not everyone.
I watched this film on a recommendation from a friend. We sometimes discuss movies that we really like and we usually like films that are slightly off-kilter. One of three friends (who discuss movies) is a going to be a filmmaker one day, so you catch my drift.
Instead it teaches you that life is an experience and the only way to be prepared for it is by going through it. Granted sometimes you have to go around or skip a few things but only when you go through, ahead, forward and onward can you be prepared for what happens once you get
through, ahead, forward and onward.
If none of this makes sense but you really want to get what I am talking about it, you should watch Frances Ha. As of this day and month (May 2019) it is available on Netflix.
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