Greta Gerwig's breakthrough film ``Frances Ha''. What is the continuity with Oscar nominee “Lady Bird”?

Continuity with "Lady Bird" based on "personal material"

Greta Gerwig's screenplays are basically based on her own stories. Because they are fictionalized based on her own experiences, even though there is no connection between the stories, there is a certain continuity between them, like a saga.

"Frances Ha" ©Pine District, LLC.

For example, " Mistress America ," also directed by Noah Baumbach in 2015 and co-written and starring Gerwig (not released in theaters in Japan, but available on Amazon Video and FOX Channel), can be considered a prequel to "Frances Ha." The protagonist, Tracy (Lola Kirke), is an 18-year-old who has just moved to New York. She attends Barnard College (Gerwig's real alma mater. Tracy's line, "The girls at Columbia make fun of us," rings true), but is not allowed to join the school's literary club, and spends her days in frustration, unable to adapt to her new environment.

This Tracy is probably close to Gerwig's own self-portrait (even her looks), and in this film, she plays Brooke, an older New Yorker who aspires to be a restaurateur and is the daughter of Tracy's mother's future husband. This also makes Lady Bird , which depicts her high school years in her hometown of Sacramento, a prequel to Mistress America.

Lady Bird trailer

The connection between "Frances Ha" and "Lady Bird" is particularly strong, and the way Gerwig's hometown of Sacramento, California, is treated is very interesting. For high school student Christine (Saoirse Ronan) in "Lady Bird," Sacramento is a boring rural area that makes her yearn to escape, but it is also a "place of love and hate" where she was born and raised. In contrast, for 27-year-old Frances, played by Gerwig in "Frances Ha," Sacramento is a "place of healing" that gently comforts the heartbreak she has experienced in the city. This must be a gradual change in consciousness brought about by the years since she left her hometown.

And don't forget that the parents who welcome Frances to Sacramento are played by Gerwig's real parents. The scene of Frances returning to Sacramento in "Frances Ha" is only a few minutes long, but there are some scenes in common with "Lady Bird," so be sure to take a closer look and compare them.