The Squid and the Whale
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The Squid and the Whale is a 2005 comedy-drama film written and directed by Noah Baumbach. It tells the semi-autobiographical story of two boys in New York dealing with their parents' divorce in the 1980s.
The Squid and the Whale was a success with critics. At the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, the film won awards for best dramatic direction and screenwriting and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. Baumbach later received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. The film received six Independent Spirit Award nominations and three Golden Globe nominations. The New York Film Critics Circle, Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the National Board of Review voted its screenplay the year’s best.
Cast
- Jeff Daniels – Bernard Berkman
- Laura Linney – Joan Berkman
- Jesse Eisenberg – Walt Berkman
- Owen Kline – Frank Berkman
- Halley Feiffer – Sophie
- Anna Paquin – Lili
- William Baldwin – Ivan
- Ken Leung – School Counselor.
Awards
- Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay
- Six Independent Spirit Award nominations. Best Feature, Best Director (Baumbach), Best Screenplay (Baumbach), Best Supporting Male (Jesse Eisenberg), Best Female Lead (Laura Linney) and Best Male Lead (Jeff Daniels)
- Three Golden Globe nominations (Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, Jeff Daniels for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy and Laura Linney for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy)
- Won Los Angeles Film Critics Association award for Best Screenplay
- Awarded Best Screenplay by the National Board of Review
- Won New York Film Critics Circle award for Best Screenplay
Soundtrack
- "Park Slope" - Britta Phillips & Dean Wareham
- "Courting Blues" - Bert Jansch
- "Holland Tunnel" - John Phillips
- "Lullaby" - Loudon Wainwright III
- "Heart Like a Wheel" - Kate & Anna McGarrigle
- "The Bright New Year" - Bert Janch
- "Drive" - The Cars
- "Let's Go" - The Feelies
- "Figure Eight" - Blossom Dearie
- "Come Sing Me a Happy Song to Prove We All Can Get Along the Lumpy, Bumpy, Long & Dusty Road" - Bert Jansch
- "Hey You" - Dean Wareham
- "Family Conference" - Britta Phillips & Dean Wareham
- "Street Hassle" - Lou Reed
- "The Swimming Song" - Loudon Wainwright III
Soundtrack trivia
- The soundtrack features two songs by Loudon Wainwright III and one by Kate and Anna McGarrigle. Wainwright and Kate McGarrigle were briefly married during the 1970s and had two children; Rufus Wainwright and Martha Wainwright (both of whom are now also accomplished singer/songwriters). Wainwright and McGarrigle would later divorce. The two Loudon Wainwright III songs are from the 1973 album Attempted Mustache on which McGarrigle has a significant influence. "Lullaby" was influenced by the birth of Rufus Wainwright while "The Swimming Song" features both Loudon Wainwright and McGarrigle on the five-string banjo (an instrument McGarrigle taught Wainwright how to play).
Trivia
- Anna Paquin in this film has a romantic relationship with Jeff Daniels' character. In Fly Away Home, a movie made nine years earlier, she played Jeff Daniels' daughter.
- The film is named after a [squid and sperm whale] panoramic found at the American Museum of Natural History.
- When Walt's teacher is speaking to the Berkmans about their son's plagiarism of the song "Hey You" by Pink Floyd during his performance at a talent show, there is a poster behind him promoting reading featuring The Hurricane, a WWE Superstar. However, this wrestler didn't make his WWE debut until 2001.
- Bernard Berkman makes frequent mention that he is a fan of the New York Knicks. Given the time period of the movie, the character Walt Berkman is likely to have been named for early-1970s Knick star Walt Frazier.
- Filmed on Super 16mm.
- The film makes many references to the film Risky Business, including the original score from the film.
- In the summer of 2004, the film The Squid and the Whale filmed in Midwood High School's auditorium, using students from the school's drama club as extra seat fillers, in 80s style costumes. The production also used background scenes on the stage that had been painted for the Drama Club's production of Bye Bye Birdie, two months prior.
DVD release date
March 21, 2006
External links
- [Official Website]
- [In-depth piece on The Squid and the Whale.] Alternate Takes
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