Golden Greta

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Further cementing my deeply held belief that Greta Gerwig is the best person on the world, here's a lengthy article about her and Noah Baumbach - well mostly it's about the latter - in The New Yorker that's totally worth your time. It runs through all of his films up to the upcoming Frances Ha (25 Days!) and beyond, and fills us in on how he and Greta work together - there's some fascinating insight into how Frances got built from the ground up, for one. Mainly I just want to quote this couple of bits from Greta, though:

"I think we have to believe in a happy ending. We have to, otherwise what is anybody doing? I always have this frustration that, in a therapeutic sense, it can feel you have one of two ways of relating to your parents: one is you’re in denial, and the other is you can be really angry at them. And I’m, like, there has to be a way in which you just love them. And I feel that there has to be a story that’s true to its marrow and also filled with joy. There has to be that. Otherwise, it’s utterly depressing.

... Noah’s a realist and pragmatist, and he sees things without adornment. Which is helpful for someone writing about how people actually are and how they feel. For me, I feel like the adornment sometimes is what is true.” Gerwig occasionally goes to church. “Noah says, ‘You do that because you’re a guilty person.’ ” She laughed. “No, I think I do it because it connects me with a story that I don’t think is true, but I think is somehow resonant. Everything doesn’t have to be true to have power."

Honestly that is so beautifully stated she's making me tear up here at my desk. I so need to see Frances Ha again right now, dammit. I know I've been saying that since I saw it last Fall at the New York Film Festival, but I mean it exponentially more with every day that I don't see it again. I am just going to explode at some point. 25 days! 25. I can make it. Maybe.

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