Fyp Baumbach Final Copy

!1 !2 DUBLIN BUSINESS SCHOOL This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfilment of the BA (Hons) Film degree at Dublin Business School. I confirm that all work included in this thesis is my own unless indicated otherwise. Isabel Oliver May 2016 Supervisor: Barnaby Taylor !3 Table of Contents Introduction 6 Chapter 1 7 New York: The Celluloid Skyline 7 John Cassavetes 9 Martin Scorsese 12 Woody Allen 15 Chapter 2 18 Early Works of Noah Baumbach: Getting Started 18 Chapter 3 26 Middle Career: 2005-Greenberg 26 Chapter 4 36 Francis Ha (2012) and Mistress America (2015) 36 Chapter 5 45 Conclusion 45 Bibliography 53 Filmography 58 Images 59 References 61 !4 Acknowledgements Following my four years in Dublin Business School, I have learned so much. From the art of filmmaking to gaining a number of transferable skills necessary to take on the challenges of daily life. I would like to take this time to recognise the help and support contributed by a number of individuals. Without their assistance and support I would not have been able to complete this dissertation. I would first like to thank my supervisor Barnaby Taylor for all his support and guidance over the past semester. His endless encouragement and reassurance throughout the entire process allowed me to realise that a project of this magnitude can be completed. I would also like to thank my family and friends particularly: Niamh Browne, Elmarie Oliver, John Oliver and Wayne Dowling; for providing excellent guidance and a great deal of moral support throughout this entire process. When first tasked with this assignment, overwhelmed was one of many words that sprung to mind. Writing this dissertation has been one of the most rewarding and challenging endeavours I have taken on in my academic career. Without the assistance and encouragement of those listed above, this dissertation would not have been possible. !5 An Insight Into The Works of Noah Baumbach: From Kicking and Screaming(1995) to Mistress America (2015) Introduction “You have to know the past to understand the present”- Carl Sagan1 This dissertation focuses on the work of Noah Baumbach over the last 20 years, concentrating on his use of aesthetic and sociological techniques. In order to fully appreciate his work, it is necessary to look back at those directors who have inspired his films. Firstly, I will look at the filmmakers’ use of New York City as a backdrop and a central character. In particular, I will focus on directors Martin Scorsese (Mean Streets (1973) and Taxi Driver (1976), John Cassavetes (Shadows (1959), Faces (1968) and Woody Allen (Manhattan (1979), Annie Hall (1977), analysing their use of technology, dialogue and location. I will then examine their influence on director Noah Baumbach (Frances Ha (2012), Mistress America (2015), as he incorporates ‘real life’ elements into the majority of his narratives. In doing so, I will highlight the director’s union of past and present film techniques, while exploring several contemporary practices found today. !6 Chapter 1 New York: The Celluloid Skyline2 In The Celluloid Skyline (2001), James Sanders eloquently writes:“the movie city, the mythic city, is ultimately far more than a mirror.”3 While referring to the medium of film, New York has multiple profiles. Each identity circulating around a dramatised stereotype or representation found within the city. From Woody Allen’s “self-reflexive”4 “neurotic love letter”5 to his hometown, as he infinitely examines himself and those around him; to the dark, violent, street films of New York City, found among the narratives of John Cassavetes and Martin Scorsese. However, despite the multiple cinematic stereotypes The Empire State may possess, “movie makers today, looking at the real city, so often see more than is there.”6 Film directors such as Noah Baumbach, have paved the way for up and coming filmmakers to reflect on ‘real life’ experiences to inspire their narratives, rather than the vast archives of stereotypes and conventional images of New York. James Sanders declares: New York is a place unto itself, an extraordinary cultural construct spanning hundreds of individual films. Perhaps it is precisely because real New York possesses this ‘other’ city as some kind of adjunct or underside or dream version of itself, that it holds a true claim to urban greatness, once shared by only a few places in history. Once they were called ‘ storied’ or ‘fabled’ cities. Today we tell our fables with a celluloid.7 Since the early 1920s to contemporary cinema today, New York City has been regarded as a blank canvas for screenwriters, actors and emerging directors to display their narratives and make their mark in the film industry. It can be argued that Paul Strand and Charles Sheerler’s documentary !7 Manhatta (1921), is one of the earliest odes to “a modernist vision of old New York.”8 Although there is little to no dialogue throughout the documentary Manhatta (1921), the images demonstrating a day in the life of a New Yorker, combined with the words of Walt Whitman’s poem Mannahatta (1900), allow its audience to feel the rush and excitement found within the city that never sleeps. Manhatta (1921) inspired many directors to utilise the location of New York, using the city as a backdrop to display their narratives. “With names such as Adolph Zuker (Paramount Pictures),William Fox (FOX), Cecil B. DeMile (Dynamite (1929), New York City was emerging as the centre of culture and sophistication throughout the 1920s.”9 Inspired by directors of the past, contemporary filmmakers adopted new methods of production allowing them to develop narratives of their own. From the romanticised, yet slightly New York neurotic narratives, seasoned with biting wit and choreographed sarcasm; constructed by Woody Allen (Annie Hall (1977) and Manhattan (1979); to violent accounts, featuring guns, gangsters and a plethora of attitude. Such attributes can be found within the films of Martin Scorsese (Mean Streets (1973), Taxi Driver (1976) and Goodfellas (1990), as well as fellow New Yorker John Cassavetes (Shadows (1959) and Faces (1968). !8 John Cassavetes Growing up in New York City during the mid-1930s, Cassavetes “initially became interested in acting.”10 However, it wasn’t until his directorial debut with controversial narrative Shadows (1959), that he “rose to prominence as a director.”11 During an interview with MS Magazine in 1987, filmmaker John Cassavetes stated: Film is an art, a beautiful art. Its a madness that overcomes us. The artist is really a magical figure. The idea of making a movie is to pack a lifetime of ideas and emotions into a two-hour form—two hours where some images flash across the screen. And the hope is that the audience will forget everything and the celluloid will change lives. That’s a preposterously presumptuous assumption, yet that’s the hope of every filmmaker.12 Already fulfilling the role as an established actor “one never quite knew what Cassavetes would say or do next, in a role or in life.”13 It was only after a brief appearance on national radio show Night People and a “rhetorical flourish, that Cassavetes career as a producer, writer and director was unexpectedly launched.”14 After collecting $2,000 for his efforts on Night People, “Cassavetes felt absolutely honour bound to make a movie with it.”15 The production process of Shadows (1959) commenced in 1957. “Cassavetes later admitted to making every mistake they could.”16 It was the combination of inexperienced actors, lacking both a script and the knowledge to create such film, which led to several issues on set. Despite the trials and tribulations experienced by the cast and crew Cassavetes made his box office debut with the confrontational romance narrative Shadows (1959). Set in Manhattan during the 1950s, the story of Shadows (1959) follows the relationship of Leila and Tony, an interracial couple, as they face the circumstances of “living in the shadows of crazy Manhattan.” 17 (See Figure 1) !9 Figure 1: Film still from John Cassavetes first feature Shadows (1959) (Source: Cassavetes, 1959. Shadows. Courtesy of Lion International) Following his financial success at the box office with Shadows (1959), John Cassavetes briefly left New York for Los Angeles, in order to work under renowned director and producer Stanley Kramer. Regrettably his time in Hollywood did not last, due to disagreements with the crew. This led to Cassavetes being blacklisted from Hollywood for a number of years. Despite this setback, he took advantage of his former role as a subordinate producer and became determined to create his own feature. However, he was unsuccessful in this endeavour. Following his experience in L.A, Cassavetes re-wrote several former narratives where his focus had shifted to “the shallowness and hypocrisy of L.A deal making.”18 Deemed to be “one of the most important artists of the 20th century, Cassavetes originality within his work was precisely what doomed it to critical misunderstanding and neglect.”19 He was renowned for narratives such as Shadows (1959) and Faces (1968). Cassavetes’ films provided its audience with new cinematic encounters. With his ability to create depictions of ‘real life’, using !10 dialogue “that comes so close to real speech it often sounds peculiar, similar to ad-libbing,”20 the director disallowed the audience any hint of conflicted sub-context within the narrative, instilling a sense of realism throughout his stories. John Cassavetes use of realistic dialogue and is echoed through Baumbach’s work. We see this technique repeated through a number of his films from Kicking and Screaming (1995) to Mistress America (2015). However, in contrast to Cassavetes “jazz style”21 approach to filmmaking, while Baumbach’s dialogue may come across as realistic, each line is meticulously constructed leaving little to no room for error.

Load more