Starring Greta Gerwig, Mickie Sumner, Charlotte d'Amboise and Adam Driver
Directed by Noah Baumbach
US 2012
86 mins
Two films have featured large in this years awards nominations - 'Marriage Story' and 'Little Women'. One is a heart-breaking account of the end of a marriage and its aftermath, the other a bold and clever reinterpretation of a classic American novel. The directors of both these films - Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig - collaborated on 'Frances Ha' - they co-wrote the screenplay, Gerwig stars and Baumbach directs.
It's a very New York story - a struggling young would-be dancer has to change apartments when her flatmate leaves. She moves between Chinatown, her home town of Sacramento and even takes a quick trip to France in a search for direction and identity. Along the way friends, colleagues and boyfriends come and go on this ramshackle odyssey.
The script owes much to Woody Allen with its Big Apple flavour and self-absorbed characters but it has its own qualities and insights too. Baumbach and Gerwig have both developed as writers since this film but there is much to enjoy here. The sequence where Gerwig runs through the streets to the sound of David Bowie's 'Modern Love' is joyous and uplifting - a perfect blend of music and image that recalls the pleasures of living in the city.
Look out for Adam Driver - one of the finest actors working in cinema today who gives a brilliant performance in 'Marriage Story' and features here in a supporting role.
Baumbach and Gerwig are now in a relationship as well as cutting a swathe as indie film makers. They are rumoured to be collaborating on a Barbie movie next - the mind boggles but you can be sure it will not be a Disney-style family movie!
Join us in the Trades Union Club for this screening - there's a very reasonably priced bar but please note no food is available.
