Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by tunenut (A) on June 12, 2013 at 21:29:55

This is in glorious black and white. It centers on Frances, Greta Gerwig, who is 27 and barely surviving as an apprentice modern dancer. She lives with her best friend, with whom she is so close that she says they are the same person. But her friend gets serious with her boyfriend and Frances is left floundering.

Clear antecedents are Woody Allen, especially Manhattan, his black-and-white ode to New York, Whit Stillman's portraits of young New Yorkers. There is a conscious attempt to evoke Jules et Jim, with some of the same music. And there is a passing resemblance to HBO show Girls, also about 20 somethings in NYC.

Anyway, it's all about Frances, who is quirky and arty and the type of person who would go to this kind of quirky indie movie except that she probably could not afford it. It's all about witty dialog and facing a very uncertain future and figuring out cheap places to live.

Probably it is indulgent. But I was completely charmed. It's just a nice movie about nice people and there are no guns and no explosions. And I enjoyed it more than anything I've seen in a long time.