Frances Ha

Greta Gerwig Director: Noah Baumbach Noah Baumbach

Overview

Directed by Noah Baumbach, Frances Ha stars Greta Gerwig as Frances, a twentysomething Brooklynite barely making a living as an apprentice with a dance company. Her greatest happiness is the friendship she shares with Sophie (Mickey Sumner), but when Sophie moves away, Frances goes on a downward spiral that includes unemployment, failing to find the right guy, and moving into a series of smaller and smaller apartments. Co-written by Baumbach and Gerwig, Frances Ha screened at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival.

Product Details

Release Date:	11/12/2013
UPC:	0715515111218
Original Release:	2012
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	A1
Presentation:	[B&W, Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Time:	1:26:00
Sales rank:	135

Special Features

New high-definition digital master, approved by cowriter and director Noah Baumbach, with 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray; New conversation between filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich and Baumbach; New conversation between actor and filmmaker Sarah Polley and the film's cowriter and star, Greta Gerwig; New conversation about the look of Frances Ha between Baumbach, director of photography Sam Levy, and Pascal Dangin, who did the film's color mastering; Trailer; One Blu-ray and one DVD, with all content available in both formats; Plus: a booklet featuring an essay by playwright Annie Baker

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Greta Gerwig	Frances
Mickey Sumner	Sophie
Charlotte D'Ambrose	Colleen
Adam Driver	Lev
Hannah Dunne	"Ask Me" Girl
Michael Esper	Dan
Grace Gummer	Rachel
Patrick Heusinger	Patch
Josh Hamilton	Andy
Cindy Katz	Congresswoman
Maya Kazan	Caroline
Justine Lupe	Nessa
Britta Phillips	Nadia
Juliet Rylance	Janelle
Dean Wareham	Spencer

Technical Credits

Noah Baumbach

Greta Gerwig

Noah Baumbach	Director,Producer,Screenwriter
Douglas Aibel	Casting
Oscar Boyson	Co-producer
George Drakoulias	Musical Direction/Supervision
Greta Gerwig	Screenwriter
Jennifer Lame	Editor
Sam Levy	Cinematographer
Sam Lisenco	Production Designer
Fernando Loureiro	Executive Producer
Scott Rudin	Producer
Lourenço Sant'anna	Executive Producer
Rodrigo Teixeira	Producer
Lila Yacoub	Producer

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Frances Ha
1. Perfect Day [2:07]
2. The Other Thing [4:55]
3. "The Story of Us" [8:48]
4. "Have I Been to Switzerland?" [3:16]
5. Like Magic [4:25]
6. Undateable [8:34]
7. A Quick Drink [7:54]
8. Home for the Holidays [3:45]
9. "What Do You Do?" [9:32]
10. Good Timing [7:50]
11. "You Have a Pond?" [6:04]
12. Socks in Bed [9:19]
13. That One Moment [9:22]
1. Color Bars [:20]

Menu

Disc #1 -- Frances Ha
   Play The Movie
   Chapters
   Supplements
      Peter Bogdanovich and Noah Baumbach
         Play
      Sarah Polley and Greta Gerwig
         Play
      Interpreting Reality
         Play
      Trailer

Editorial Reviews

Seeing as how Greta Gerwig pretty much claimed the title of reigning indie queen with her work in Noah Baumbach's Greenberg -- and since the two began a personal relationship after that movie was filmed -- it's logical that for his follow-up they would collaborate again. What's surprising about Frances Ha, which the pair co-wrote, is that for the first time Baumbach's seemingly inherent cynicism has, at least for the time being, dissipated. Gerwig stars as Frances, a twentysomething New Yorker whose life goes into a tailspin after her best friend Sophie (Mickey Sumner) moves out of the apartment they share. Frances keeps getting kicked out of various living spaces, her apprenticeship with a dance company looks more and more like a dead-end proposition, and her love life lacks any sign of satisfaction. That description makes the film sound an awful lot like it could have been made by Lena Dunham. You half expect to see the characters from Girls show up, and the presence of Adam Driver as one of the men in Frances' circle of friends accentuates that association. The big difference is that Dunham takes a warts-and-all approach visually as well as on the page, whereas Baumbach has steeped this film in movie history; in a low-key way, he's showing off here visually like he never has before, recalling the unforced naturalism of early François Truffaut. There's a freedom to the picture's editing and pacing that doesn't necessarily reflect Frances' reality, but does give us a sense of how she sees the world as full of possibility. Like she did in Lola Versus, Gerwig makes her simultaneously selfish and decent struggling young New Yorker charismatically appealing, even when she's behaving at her worst. It's a rare skill that, while certainly familiar from her past work, gives Baumbach a new type of character to play with. While he's never feared making the men in his movies look weak and despicable, he never indicates that he has anything but affection for Frances. This is so out of place from his previous films that the picture begins to play like a love letter to his new girlfriend rather than an attempt to evolve artistically. Since his 1995 debut Kicking and Screaming, Baumbach has focused on the struggles of Generation X, and while it's tempting to read Frances Ha as the beginning of his second act -- one in which he tackles new subjects and milieus -- it's hard to escape the fact that his clear-eyed view of people's failings along with his wit are what made him such a special talent in the first place. Frances Ha is the work of an artist in love, and in Baumbach's case, it's not clear that love is his most constructive muse.

All Movie Guide - Perry Seibert