JANUARY 2020 I BOROMAG.COM 17
Photos via Instagram/@cakesbynerwan
Tribute expect, ‘Marriage Story’ is both hilarious
and heartbreaking and also ingeniously
and humanely crafted and shaped,” said
Eric Hynes, curator of film at MoMI.
Much of the film is set in New York City,
like many of the director’s other works.
“For me, I guess it’s personal because
I grew up here and I live here, and so it’s
a place I’m familiar with,” Baumbach told
BORO. “But I feel like in a way it’s almost
like an actor who plays different versions
of themselves in each movie I’ve done.
There’s the the black-and-white New York
in ‘Frances Ha’ and it’s a different kind
of New York in ‘The Squid and the Whale,’
sort of ‘80s Brooklyn and transforms and
shifts as the story goes on.”
Dern, who also stars in Greta Gerwig’s
critically acclaimed adaptation of “Little
Women,” told BORO that it’s “essential
to tell human stories … more than ever”
— and that’s where she feels “Marriage
Story” excels.
“I think we’re at a critical point of
disconnect in our world from what
the truth looks like to what measuring
success ... looks like, and so the humanity
in films like Noah’s and Greta’s are
profoundly essential,” she said. “People
are complicated and they’re in the gray,
and a relationship ends and it doesn’t
mean it’s a failing, and life is complicated
and has grief and that doesn’t mean it
isn’t filled with joy.”
To her, empathy is crucial in today’s
world, and film is a powerful tool for
sharing people’s stories.
“Empathetic filmmakers are saving us in
my opinion, and I’m really grateful,” Dern
said. “Really, it’s the new punk rock. The
radical filmmakers are making essential
human stories right now, ‘cause they
know it’s the most radical thing certainly
for Americans to see, and I’m so honored
to be part of it.”
Baumbach nodded to the empathy
in “Marriage Story” while accepting his
award.
“As a filmmaker, I wanted to say that
endings aren’t failings, and in doing
so, I strived to make a film that not only
acknowledged our imperfections but
celebrated our humanity. I wanted to make
a different kind of love story,” he said.
Baumbach noted the significance
of receiving an award in one of the
boroughs as a New Yorker himself.
“It is especially meaningful for me, a
Brooklyn boy who dreamed of one day
moving to Manhattan, who then achieved
that dream, only to discover that
everyone was moving back to Brooklyn —
and Queens, too, by the way,” Baumbach
joked.
Photos: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images (courtesy of Netflix)
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