Marriage Story
Short description
Marriage Story follows Charlie, a New York theatre director, and Nicole, an actress in his company, as their marriage ends. Charlie believes the separation can be handled amicably, but Nicole has felt she lost her own identity within the relationship and wants a different life. She takes their young son and moves to Los Angeles, where she has been offered a role in a television pilot, and the couple's efforts to settle matters quietly give way to a contested divorce as lawyers become involved and the question of where the child should live turns the process hostile. The story moves between the two coasts as Charlie tries to keep working and stay close to his son while the dispute hardens on both sides.
Noah Baumbach wrote the screenplay and produced the film with David Heyman, for the British company Heyday Films. It is the eleventh of the fourteen features he has directed, arriving after The Meyerowitz Stories and before White Noise. Adam Driver plays Charlie and Scarlett Johansson plays Nicole, with Laura Dern, Alan Alda, Ray Liotta and Julie Hagerty among the supporting cast. The production had a budget of about 19 million dollars.
On IMDb the film holds 7.9 out of 10 from roughly 370,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.7 out of 10 from over 7,500 votes. A critics' rating of 8.9 out of 10 from 407 reviews places it noticeably above those audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- At the end of the film, the family members dress up as members of The Beatles and go trick-or-treating in Los Angeles. Judging by the costumes, Scarlett Johansson's character portrays John Lennon (1940-1980), her mother, played by Julie Hagerty, portrays George Harrison (1943-2001), Nicole's new friend, played by Mark O'Brien, portrays Paul McCartney, and Nicole and Charlie's son (played by Eji Robertson) portrays Ringo Starr.
- Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, and Laura Dern were cast in the film even before the script was finished. The director and screenwriter, Noah Baumbach, incorporated some aspects of their characters' personalities into the script as a result of consultations with the actors.
- The plot is largely based on the director Noah Baumbach's own past, as he divorced actress Jennifer Jason Leigh in 2013. According to Baumbach, Leigh read the script, watched the film, and liked it.
- During the argument in Charlie's apartment, absolutely all lines and other nuances were scripted. There was no improvisation in this scene.
- Charlie's apartment in Los Angeles was actually filmed in a Los Angeles apartment specifically built for this purpose. During the filming of the argument scene, the neighbors were asked to leave. Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson filmed 50 takes of the argument scene in Charlie’s apartment. The argument took 2 days to film. It was filmed in one take, so the actors had to play the scene from the beginning each time.
- Noah Baumbach shot 76 takes of the final scene.
- Due to numerous takes, Adam Driver had to punch the wall 15 times. During one punch, he almost broke through the wall.
- The idea to make his character Charlie a theater director came from Adam Driver, who played the role.
- The character of Nora Fanshaw (played by Laura Dern) is based on American lawyer Laura Wasser, who specializes in celebrity divorces and whose clients have included Dern herself, Scarlett Johansson, and Noah Baumbach. The meditation sessions were filmed in Wasser's office.
- To increase realism, Noah Baumbach consulted with practicing divorce lawyers and discussed the script and the actions of Nicole and Charlie with them.
- Scarlett Johansson's monologue was filmed in one take. The scene was long, and after each take, the film had to be reloaded.
- Filming took 47 days.
- During filming, during arguments, Noah Baumbach would give Scarlett Johansson or Adam Driver notes with instructions to surprise their partner with the next statement or action and record different reactions.
- When Noah Baumbach approached Scarlett Johansson with an offer to star in the film, she was in the midst of divorcing her second husband, something Baumbach was unaware of.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
