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

Gerwig's love and hate for Mumblecore, her home turf.

Why did Greta Gerwig aspire to make films that are so vividly filled with personal elements? In order to discuss her perspective, I would like to briefly explain the American indie film scene known as "mumblecore," which is an essential background for me to explain.

Mumblecore is an independent film movement created by a new generation in New York in the '00s. They use inexpensive digital cameras, and the staff and performers are all friends. He made films as an extension of his club activities, pursuing life-size reality through a completely DIY approach. Naturally, the content of the movie is based on ``self/our'' stories from everyday life.

This is from the 00's after `` Donten Seikatsu '' (1999), which was shot as The Graduate project by the Osaka Geidai group, including Atsuhiro Yamashita (director), Kosuke Mukai (screenplay), Ryuto Kondo (cinematographer), and Koji Yamamoto (actor). It's very similar to the trend of indie Japanese films (more specifically, Japan was a little earlier). It can be said that an unconscious resonance that transcended borders was occurring as a result of the times, and one of the central figures in mumblecore was a director named Joe Swanberg, and Gerwig was his lover for a time.

Gerwig first appeared in a bit role in Swanberg's LOL (2006), then in Hanna, But I'll Live! ” (2007). However, after the controversial film Nights and Weekends (2008), co-directed by Swanberg and Gerwig, Gerwig moved away from mumblecore.

The production process for ``Nights and Weekends,'' which begins with a graphic depiction of sex between a couple played by Swanberg and Gerwig, was actually extremely rough. Since then, Gerwig has starred in Noah Baumbach's Ben Stiller! ” (2010), and `` Dakitai Kankei '' (2011/Director: Ivan Reitman), and departed from mumblecore, which prided itself on activities that had nothing to do with commercialism. As a result, he began to rise in society.

"Frances Ha" ©Pine District, LLC.

However, ``Frances Ha'' clearly inherited a strong mumblecore spirit, and ``Lady Bird'' is just an extension of that. However, unlike mumblecore's style, which emphasized rough improvisation, he took a method of assembling dialogue, acting, and structure in a rigid manner. Gerwig probably honed her individuality more clearly by basing her work on mumblecore, which was her love and hate for her home turf as a filmmaker.

By the way, apart from Gerwig, a notable member of the Frances Ha team is Adam Driver, who was chosen to play Kylo Ren in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015). . In ``Frances Ha,'' he lives with a friend in an apartment equipped with an Eames chair and a shelf full of vinyl records (Francis's best friend Sophie says, ``This room itself is self-conscious.''), and he has sex with various girls. He played the role of Lev, a hipster-looking boy who brings in people in exchange. Also, the young man named Jamie that he played in ` `Young Adult New York '' (2014), also directed by Noah Baumbach, is like a variation of the same role, so be sure to check it out as well.

Text: Naoto Mori

Film critic, writer. Born in Wakayama in 1971. He is the author of ``Cinema Garage: Children in the Ruins'' (Film Art Publishing), and edited ``Movies of the Zero Years+'' (Kawade Shobo Shinsha), among others. He regularly writes for magazines such as Weekly Bunshun, Asahi Shimbun, TV Bros., Men's Nonno, Kinema Junpo, Eiga Hiho, and Cinema Today.

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"Frances Ha"

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