Fifth Time's the Charm
Posted by Jared
The Squid and the Whale (2005)
Noah Baumbach
viewed 01.11.06
I almost saw this movie four times before actually seeing it (twice I literally turned around at the theater door). I was afraid. Afraid that producer Wes Anderson (who I love) was franchising himself . Afraid that it was upperclass angst set to a trendy soundtrack. Afraid that it was going to be two hours of spastic editing by a director who can't compose a shot.
More than that though, I was annoyed. I had listened to or read a few comments Mr. Baumbach made about his film being "no-budget", an "underdog". Hollywood marketing has already stolen the terms "independent" and "low-budget". A low-budget independent movie can now cost $10-15 million, star the biggest names in Hollywood, and be financed by a company owned by Disney. The "outsider" Independent Spirit Awards recently capped eligible budgets at $20 million (Independence is now a state of mind, aka "spirit", rather than an economic condition. People with money always seem to think money doesn't mean anything). "No budget" has typically referred to innovative filmmakers like Jon Jost who makes feature films for less than $10,000, not the 1.5 million it took to make The Squid and the Whale.
True, in comparison, Baumbach's movie was lower-budget, but lets inject a bit of reality into how we talk about things. If he's an "underdog" making movies for "almost nothing", then what am I and the people I know who work regular jobs while trying to scrape up the extra cash to buy a few hundred feet of film stock. People who enlist the acting talents of complete strangers walking by because they'll work for free, and rely on creativity to solve the problems even a $20,000 budget could solve with money. Many will never get the film made, and most of those that do will be ignored. Baumbach and the like get nearly everything they need, can't they at least leave us a word that accurately describes our situation?
By the way, the movies was decent. None of my fears proved legitimate. It had more life, more edge, and more visual appeal than its trailer gave it credit for.