Noah Baumbach made a splash in the independent film world with his debut film, Kicking and Screaming (no, not the movie about a children’s soccer team starring Will Ferrell, but the coming-of-age tale of four recent college graduates who struggle with the idea of entering the real world). Ten years later, a period during which he would release two feature films to lukewarm receptions, Baumbach struck back with The Squid and the Whale. The loosely autobiographical film, about two brothers dealing with their parents’ divorce, saw even more praise upon its release than his first film. The film won two awards at Sundance, for directing and screenplay, and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize, as well as five Independent Spirit Awards and one Oscar.
Baumbach’s latest film, Margot at the Wedding, tells the story of Margot (Nicole Kidman) as she and her son visit her sister Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh) after Margot learns that Pauline is set to marry to an unemployed artist, played by Jack Black. Like The Squid and the Whale, Margot at the Wedding focuses on a dysfunctional family and the impact of this dysfunction on their relationships, both inside and outside of the home.
The idea for the film came from a single image that Baumbach couldn’t get out of his head: A mother and son riding a train. He was unclear who these characters were–or where their story would take them–but began work on the script regardless. “I’ve discovered that it’s better for things to remain fairly mysterious as I go along. I feel my way around in the dark, and as things come together, then they become much more fine-tuned. That’s when the more analytical part of the process comes in,” says Baumbach.
This somewhat carefree style of writing obviously works for Baumbach, who gets as much praise for his screenplays, including the upcoming Wes Anderson animated adaptation The Fantastic Mr. Fox, as anything else.
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