The Squid and the Whale (2005)
Coming Out at 16 December 2005 in theaters.
Comedy, Drama
The Squid and the Whale is independent arthouse comedy-drama film written and directed by Noah Baumbach and produced by Wes Anderson. It tells the semi-autobiographical story of two boys in Brooklyn dealing with their parents’ divorce in 1986. The film is named after the giant squid and sperm whale diorama housed at the American Museum of Natural History, which is seen in the film. The film was shot on Super 16mm, mostly using a handheld camera. At the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, the film won awards for best dramatic direction and screenwriting, and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. Baumbach later received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. The film received six Independent Spirit Award nominations and three Golden Globe nominations. The New York Film Critics Circle, Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the National Board of Review voted its screenplay the year’s best.
Bernard Berkman is an arrogant, once-promising novelist whose career has gone into a slow decline as he spends more time teaching and less time writing. His unfaithful wife, Joan, has recently begun publishing her own work to widespread acclaim, which only increases the growing tension between them. One day, Bernard and Joan tell their two sons, 16-year-old Walt and 12-year-old Frank, that they are separating, with Bernard renting a house on the other side of Prospect Park from their home in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
As the parents set up a schedule for spending time with their children, Walt and Frank can hardly imagine that things could get more combative between their parents. They do, however, as Joan begins dating Ivan, Frank’s tennis instructor, and Bernard starts sharing his new house with Lili, one of his students. Meanwhile, the two boys begin taking sides in the battle between their parents, with Frank siding with his mother and Walt lashing out at her.
Director: Noah Baumbach
Writer: Noah Baumbach
Stars: Owen Kline, Jeff Daniels, Laura Linney, Jesse Eisenberg, William Baldwin, David Benger, Anna Paquin
Cast:
Owen Kline | … | Frank Berkman |
Jeff Daniels | … | Bernard Berkman |
Laura Linney | … | Joan Berkman |
Jesse Eisenberg | … | Walt Berkman |
William Baldwin | … | Ivan |
David Benger | … | Carl |
Anna Paquin | … | Lili |
Molly Barton | … | Graduate Student |
Bo Berkman | … | Graduate Student |
Matthew Kaplan | … | Graduate Student |
Simon Kaplan | … | Graduate Student |
Matthew Kirsch | … | Graduate Student |
Daniella Markowicz | … | Graduate Student |
Elizabeth Meriwether | … | Graduate Student |
Ben Schrank | … | Graduate Student |
Amy Srebnick | … | Graduate Student |
Josh Srebnick | … | Graduate Student |
Emma Straub | … | Graduate Student |
Alan Wilkis | … | Graduate Student |
James Hamilton | … | Man with Joan |
Adam Rose | … | Otto |
Henry Glovinsky | … | Lance |
Eli Gelb | … | Jeffrey |
Halley Feiffer | … | Sophie Greenberg |
Wayne Lawson | … | Talent Show Judge |
Michael Santiago | … | Talent Show Judge |
Juan Torriente | … | Talent Show Judge |
Patricia Towers | … | Talent Show Judge |
Peggy Gormley | … | Mrs. Greenberg |
Peter Newman | … | Mr. Greenberg |
Greta Kline | … | Greta Greenberg |
Melissa Meyer | … | Professor |
Benjamin Smolen | … | Student with Puppets |
Michael Countryman | … | Mr. Simic |
Alexandra Daddario | … | Pretty Girl |
Nico Baumbach | … | Jeb Gelber |
Maryann Plunkett | … | Ms. Lemon |
Hector Otero | … | Hector |
Ken Leung | … | School Therapist |
Jo Yang | … | Nurse |
Jonathan Baumbach | … | Man Outside Ms. Lemon’s Office |
Andrew Kaempfer | … | Valet |
Britta Phillips | … | Talent Show Audience Member |
Bobby Shue | … | Student |
Dean Wareham | … | Talent Show Audience Member |
Sources: imdb & wikipedia