The Squid and the Whale
Run Time: 1h 21m
Star Rating: ★★★★★
“I was ready to leave a long time ago, I just didn’t know it then.” —Joan Berkman
The Squid and the Whale is a creation of Noah Baumbach and Wes Anderson. The film follows the Berkman family as they navigate an unhappy marriage. Bernard Berkman, the patriarch, is supposed to be the all-round artiste, but since meeting her husband, Joan Berkman has found arguably more success. This pre-Marriage Story drama adeptly recognises the complications of marrying an artist, specifically a writer.
Set in ‘80s Brooklyn, Noah Baumbach shot the film in Super 16 to ensure the visuals were just right. He also looked to French New Wave, John Cassevetes, and early Scorsese for inspiration. All of this is evident through the muted pastel tones throughout—like the blue clothes all four Berkmans don at various points. These little subtleties pull the fine threads of the film.
Music features heavily in this film, particularly Pink Floyd’s Hey You. As a Floyd fan, this was incredibly exciting for me. The song plays at different key moments of the film as a motif. Hey You is a song about Pink rejoining society after he mistakenly shunned society, and this can be viewed as an allusion to the cloying nature of marriage. Another act of symbolism in The Squid and the Whale is tennis. The Berkmans bond as a family by playing a few matches. This is a more obvious hint at the back-and-forth of an unhappy coupling.
The Berkmans have a cat who is passed between Joan and Bernard. This and the use of tennis further cement the idea of a back-and-forth. Additionally, the attempt at containment is expressed through lies, cheating, cats escaping, and false pretences. Bernard describes his new place as, “the fillet of the neighbourhood,” when in reality, the walls are crumbling and it is barely furnished.
Understandably, there are a few literary references peppered through this film, such as Kafka’s Metamorphosis and Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities—which Bernard calls, “a minor work”. Jeff Daniels plays the titular character with a reserved angst. His quiet seething nature makes for an interesting dynamic, which is in contrast to his extroverted wife who makes no bones about expressing her feelings.
Walt, the eldest boy, is played by Jesse Eisenberg, and his younger brother—Frank (known affectionately as “pickle”)—is played by Owen Kline. Both boys are mirrors of their parents, ultimately creating an almost identical version of the broken coupling they try to mend. In divorce, parents often forget that their children pick up on the glances and unspoken words.
Literary references aren’t the only Easter eggs, however, for Godard’s Breathless and Lynch’s Blue Velvet are distinct parts of this film. Using references such as these enhances meaning by way of external information. A film director can piggyback off another to form a well-rounded narrative. In one scene, Bernard, Walt, and Sophie go to the screening of Blue Velvet. Isabella Rossellini can be seen saying, “I love you! Love me! He put his disease in me.” I feel Noah Baumbach picked that scene intentionally.
Overall, Baumbach and Anderson’s The Squid and the Whale is an underrated dramatic masterpiece. If you weren’t a fan of Marriage Story, its precursor will give you something to chew on. The dialogue is understated, leaving the audience to do some of the work. Baumbach’s own parents, both writers, divorced when he was young. I find personal experience really makes a film feel true to the heart. As someone whose parents are divorced, this film shows how it feels to have your parents blame each other when all that really matters is the fracture. This is never more true than at the denouement of the piece where we finally understand who the squid and the whale truly are.
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