A stage director and an actress end their marriage across 2 coasts and with competing lawyers. Each has to work out the painful math of what they owe themselves against what they owe to love. I feel like Noah Baumbach made a compassionate and clear-eyed account of 2 people who love each other and cannot stay together.
Marriage Story is a 2019 drama and romance film directed by Noah Baumbach. This breakdown covers 5 techniques (2 cinematography, 1 editing and 2 narrative), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, Autumn Sonata uses several of the same techniques.
Shooting almost the whole film in 1 confined place. Set design and camera movement keep it visually interesting, and the space itself takes on meaning as the story goes on.
How this film uses it
The film maps its feelings onto 2 homes, the New York apartment of Charlie and Nicole's marriage and the Los Angeles house where Nicole lives with her mother and Henry. Each one shows a different version of how the marriage failed, and neither can hold both people.
Where to see it
Charlie's rented Los Angeles apartment, which his lawyer tells him to take to strengthen his custody case. The spare rooms show how far he is from the home he shared with Nicole.
Letting a conversation run for a long time with very few cuts. The tension builds from the actors sharing the space and from what is said, almost said and left unsaid.
How this film uses it
The central argument scene plays out in one unbroken setting, with no cutaways and no relief. The camera stays with both actors as they move from hurt to rage to the things people say and can never take back.
Where to see it
The private argument between Charlie and Nicole. Both cross lines they cannot uncross, and Charlie says he wishes she was dead. Then he breaks down in tears and apologizes, and Nicole comforts him.
Holding a close-up on an actor's face long enough to catch tiny changes in expression. You read what the character is thinking from details a wider shot would miss.
How this film uses it
Baumbach stays on Driver and Johansson in close-up through the most painful scenes of the film. He trusts the tiny changes in their faces to do what dialogue cannot, since the small betrayals only show up there.
Where to see it
Nicole's tearful breakdown to her lawyer. It is shot in a long close-up that holds through her entire monologue without cutting.
Building up to a big emotional release slowly, by investing in the characters and giving small bits of hope. When the release comes, it feels deserved after all the suffering.
How this film uses it
The final moment between Charlie and Nicole comes after months of legal warfare. It feels like a release because the film has earned the grief behind it. It also never gets sentimental about the love it shows being lost.
Where to see it
Nicole tying Charlie's shoe as he carries Henry home after Halloween. It is a small act of care that survives the divorce, and it is the last point the film makes.
Staging a single confrontation where a family visibly breaks apart. It is usually the emotional peak of a slow decline, and it shows how far apart the members really are.
How this film uses it
The whole film is built around a family breaking apart, and each legal step is a new crack. By the end, the only dramatic question left is whether any part of the family can survive.
Where to see it
The court hearing. Nicole's lawyer Nora stresses Charlie's emotional distance and past infidelity, while his lawyer Jay exaggerates Nicole's drinking. The family has been turned into weapons.
Questions
Marriage Story: quick answers
What filmmaking techniques does Marriage Story use?
CineCode breaks down 5 techniques in Marriage Story (2019): Single-Location Cinematography, Unbroken Dialogue Scene, Deliberate Close-Up Performance, Earned Catharsis and Familial Dissolution Scene.
Who directed Marriage Story?
Noah Baumbach directed Marriage Story, released in 2019. CineCode also covers Frances Ha (2013).
What films are similar to Marriage Story?
Films that share techniques with Marriage Story include Autumn Sonata (1978), Moonlight (2016), Rope (1948), The Father (2020).
