THE SQUID AND THE WHALE
The Squid and the Whale written and directed by Noah Baumbach in 2005 is a semi-autobiographical comedy-drama about his childhood in Brooklyn and the effect of his parents' divorce on the family set in the mid-1980s. It is a painful account of the break-up in 1986 of the marriage between middle-class writers Bernard (Jeff Daniels) and Joan Berkman (Laura Linney and its effect on their teenage sons Walt, 16 (Jesse Eisenberg) and Frank,10 (Owen Kline) after 17years of marriage. This movie tells us about the emotional chaos of a dysfunctional family. The opening dialogue of the movie “Me and Mom V/S You and Dad” in a double tennis reveals the family dynamics which appear to be competitive …show more content…
He is unable to deal with his sexual urges which he is getting hence he masturbates in the school library. Since he is so young he has less defenses to deal with the emotional pain of his parents’ divorce and the loneliness that comes with it as a result of which it is shown in the earlier scenes that he starts to cry as soon as he hears about his parents’ divorce whereas Walt remains detached and in his defense and asks the question “What about the cat?”. Frank is seen showing anger towards his father in one scene where he is looking himself in the mirror with his mother behind him and says that he has the bone structure of his mother which his mother tell him is incorrect it’s like his fathers which he does not like. Frank looks at his tennis teacher (Ivan) as his hero and wants to become a pro like him which his father tells him he can’t to which Frank replies he is philistine and so is Ivan. Frank is not afraid to question and challenge anything which his father’s says and he has independent thoughts which he freely expresses as he does not seek his father approval and this is something Walt cannot do as he seeks his father’s …show more content…
He prefers to spend time alone drinking and masturbating as a result of his aggressive and sexual urges which are unruly. Whereas Walt is seen with his friends who advise him to date two girls at once and on advice of his father he breaks up which he later regrets and from this point he de-idealizes his father. The personal counseling session which he is forced to take after he sings the song “Hey You” by Pink Floyd as his own, he realises that it was his mother who was there for him before his brother was born which he realises after the psychologist asks him to share a memory and he shares the memory of his childhood when he used to watch robin hood with his mother and the time when he used to go to natural history museum and felt scared of the whale and squid and did not look at it but later when he came home his mother would sooth him after which he would feel less scared, when the psychologist asks where was his father he said he could not
The Squid and the Whale written and directed by Noah Baumbach in 2005 is a semi-autobiographical comedy-drama about his childhood in Brooklyn and the effect of his parents' divorce on the family set in the mid-1980s. It is a painful account of the break-up in 1986 of the marriage between middle-class writers Bernard (Jeff Daniels) and Joan Berkman (Laura Linney and its effect on their teenage sons Walt, 16 (Jesse Eisenberg) and Frank,10 (Owen Kline) after 17years of marriage. This movie tells us about the emotional chaos of a dysfunctional family. The opening dialogue of the movie “Me and Mom V/S You and Dad” in a double tennis reveals the family dynamics which appear to be competitive …show more content…
He is unable to deal with his sexual urges which he is getting hence he masturbates in the school library. Since he is so young he has less defenses to deal with the emotional pain of his parents’ divorce and the loneliness that comes with it as a result of which it is shown in the earlier scenes that he starts to cry as soon as he hears about his parents’ divorce whereas Walt remains detached and in his defense and asks the question “What about the cat?”. Frank is seen showing anger towards his father in one scene where he is looking himself in the mirror with his mother behind him and says that he has the bone structure of his mother which his mother tell him is incorrect it’s like his fathers which he does not like. Frank looks at his tennis teacher (Ivan) as his hero and wants to become a pro like him which his father tells him he can’t to which Frank replies he is philistine and so is Ivan. Frank is not afraid to question and challenge anything which his father’s says and he has independent thoughts which he freely expresses as he does not seek his father approval and this is something Walt cannot do as he seeks his father’s …show more content…
He prefers to spend time alone drinking and masturbating as a result of his aggressive and sexual urges which are unruly. Whereas Walt is seen with his friends who advise him to date two girls at once and on advice of his father he breaks up which he later regrets and from this point he de-idealizes his father. The personal counseling session which he is forced to take after he sings the song “Hey You” by Pink Floyd as his own, he realises that it was his mother who was there for him before his brother was born which he realises after the psychologist asks him to share a memory and he shares the memory of his childhood when he used to watch robin hood with his mother and the time when he used to go to natural history museum and felt scared of the whale and squid and did not look at it but later when he came home his mother would sooth him after which he would feel less scared, when the psychologist asks where was his father he said he could not