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‘Frances Ha’ reflects 20-something life with distinctive style

Those attending the Berkshire International Film Festival (BIFF) had the opportunity to see Frances Ha, a compelling new film currently in limited release in the United States.

Frances Ha is the kind of movie that really grows on you. Directed by Noah Baumbach and co-written by Baumbach and the film’s star, Greta Gerwig, it is every inch a contemporary movie.

The film’s story centers around Frances (Greta Gerwig), a young modern dancer living in New York City with her best friend, Sophie (Mickey Sumner). As Frances struggles with her career and place in the world, she and Sophie begin to drift apart, and soon Frances is forced to re-examine both her identity and her relationship with Sophie.

The first thing moviegoers will notice about Frances Ha is its distinct visual style.

Shot digitally in black and white for a very low budget, this is a movie that uses its restrictions to create some really beautiful cinematography. What’s even more effective, however, is the editing.

The way the movie shows shifts in time and space, interspersing lengthy dialogue-heavy scenes with brisk montages, really serves to engross viewers in Frances’ life and challenges.

Music also plays a significant role here. While Frances Ha contains numerous songs from French New Wave films, just as important are its uses of silence. The restrained use of the soundtrack is very deliberate and really heightens the emotion and tension of the film.

The story itself is a bit of a slow boil. It took some time for me to get invested in Frances and her life, but once I was hooked, I was hooked.

Frances is a bit of an odd duck, and the beginning of the movie hints that this might be a film with a lot of quirkiness for quirkiness’ sake, a trope I’m not the craziest about. Frances is soon fleshed out as a real human being, however, with an identity and feelings beyond her eccentricities, which I found quite refreshing.

Her problems are also very relatable, especially to those who are also in their mid-20s.

Money difficulties, a stifled career and class issues – many of the struggles Frances faces are generational as well as personal, and they are shown in a realistic and highly effective manner.

Frances Ha is also a master class in awkward humor.

This is a very funny movie, and a number of its funniest scenes come from some painfully uncomfortable situations. One scene in particular had me hiding my face for most of it.

I’m a big fan of awkward humor, but it is not an easy thing to pull off. To see it done so well was a real joy.

This was one of the best movies I’ve seen all year, and if you get a chance to see it, I’d highly recommend checking it out.

Finally, if you didn’t get a chance to go to BIFF this year, I would strongly suggest taking the time to go next year. Being able to see Frances Ha was an absolute pleasure, and the question and answer session with Gerwig and Baumbach afterwards made a wonderful evening even better.

I’ve been covering BIFF for three years now, and the quality and variety of films shown there from around the world is second to none. If you love movies, you owe it to yourself to attend in 2014.

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Posted by on June 13, 2013. Filed under Arts and Entertainment,Columns,Movie Reviews,Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
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