Frances Ha Analysis

 Frances Ha (2012)

Directed, Co-written by: Noah Baumbach
Co-written by and Starring: Greta Gerwig

It's a character study of Frances. It's a mix of the French New Wave, the Woody Allen school of filmmaking and the Mumblecore film movement. It's shot in a minimalist way, and yet we never feel that. It's because the visual scope of the film never feels limited. It travels through different countries, and it feels like anything could happen. Getting our trust that the film will do something if it's necessary, and it won't avoid the scene due to the lack of budget - is the most important aspect of all. 

Frances is a total goof up. Her silly idiosyncrasies, and her physical comedy reminded me of some people. What I like in people like Frances is that, they don't play safe or back out once things don't go well, they go - 'oh god, I'm badly fucked now' and again try to figure things for themselves. There is subconscious will to take challenges and face risks in life. The film essentially captures the problems of the modern world. When the actor also writes for the film, it's interesting because then the level of work they do to discover the character for themselves - it could be something else. 

This film was shot on a 5D, and they didn't even use cinema lenses. They used 50mm prime and 70-200mm zoom lens. So we don't have like seamless charge-ins, or track-ins. The best part is that the film doesn't need it. This film reminded me of Coffee and Cigarettes by Jim Jarmusch, and Obvious Child.