Both Adam Driver and Laura Dern are receiving Oscar buzz for their performances in "Marriage Story," an emotional drama about a couple involved in a coast-to-coast divorce. So, audiences were delighted to see the pair in conversationwith director Noah Baumbach at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
"Marriage Story"focuseson Charlie and Nicole Barber, whosedivorce comes after Nicole (played by Scarlett Johansson) moves from New York to California to star in a television series. She takes their son, Henry (played by Azhy Robertson), with her to Los Angeles,which causesCharlie(played by Driver) to commute across the country.
Charlie must balance his work as a successful director in New York and visits to seehis son in California, along with managing the divorce. Nicole's lawyer, Nora (played by Dern), increases the tension between the couple and their divorce. The high-powered attorney encourages Nicole tofocus on what she wants and to gain more benefits in the divorce settlement.Dernrecently received a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for her performance.
Dern, DriverandBaumbachengaged in a relaxed conversation, mainly about the production and various creative elements used throughout the film,in front of a full theater on Jan. 2.
Here are five things we learned about "Marriage Story"at the Q-and-A:
1. Laura Dern was involved withbuilding her character, Nora.
Baumbach was highly motivated to writethe character of Nora Fanshaw with the image of Dern in mind.
“Her first line is, ‘Sorry that I look so schleppy, I had an event at my kid’s school,’" Baumbach explained. "It’s fine on the page but knowing that Laura’s doing that, describing as I’m writing that scene (and) describing her stride and movement to take off her shoes,I have the ability to write that, knowing it’s Laura,... that was a great gift for me in this movie.”
Baumbach went on to say that research played a huge role in constructing Nora, andDernwas very much involvedin that part of the process.
“Wetalked to a lot of lawyers, both male and female, and Laura did research, too,” he said. “In some cases, there were ideas that found their way into it with all the lawyers."
Baumbachalso revealed that Dern helped design the office setas well as her wardrobe to work with her character'spersonality. They built Nora’s office out of a blank space in an office building.
2. The cast was involved with creating various symbolic elements.
Baumbach said the rehearsal process started off with just him and the cast rehearsing lines beforethey moved onto blocking the scenes in various locations. During this time, he had the whole crew on set with the script supervisor and editor taking notes.
“I feel like everyone gets ideas,” he said. “The blocking starts to get formed, and where you hang a picturesuddenly becomes meaningful and then the actor gets something from it later on.”
Baumbach went on to give examples of several production designs that became symbolic, such as the picture of Henry that is placed above Nicole's on a wall, and the juice box that Charlie gives Nicole shortly before an argument.
He also revealed that he and Driver "had many conversations about all of those things and we talked about how Charlie has been trying to catch up the whole movie, and in a sense, he’s even dressed in the past. … He’s wearing an overcoat, he’s still dressed for another life, … (but)the reality is Los Angeles right now.”
3. Driver improvised his response to Kyle Bornheimer's sneeze.
During the courtroom scene whenthe couple's lawyers are arguing overeach partner's faults, there is a momentwhen an assistant (played by Kyle Bornheimer)sneezes. Charlie replies with, "Godbless you.” Thisscene was deemed an improvisation by Baumbach.
“That was not in the script and it was only that one take, it was only that one time,” Baumbach explained. “I watched the dailies and I can see (Bornheimer)realize and internally go, ‘Oh no, I’m about to sneeze,’and he does it. And Adam, you know, is Charlie in that kind of traumatic moment,just the deadpan ‘God bless you,’which is both real and fictional at the same time.”
The explanation resulted inlaughter and applause from the audience,who had also laughed during this scene.
4. Driver pitched the idea of Charlie's singing scene.
After Charlie and Nicole's divorce is finalized, Charlie returns to New York to finishwork withhis theater production. While he is out for drinks with his theater crew, the pianist in the restaurant plays a piano melodyand Charliestarts to sing.
A few years ago, according to Baumbach, Driver asked him if the movie could be a musical comedy.Baumbach enjoyed this idea and said they began to discuss incorporating a musical number into the film. This began their mission to find a song.
They decided on a number fromthe musical “Company”and started watching performance clips. After doing some research, they chosethe song “Being Alive."
"I partly joked that this whole movie was … engineered just to have Adam sing that song,which is partly a joke,” Baumbach said.
The “Company” musical number'slyricsdescribe the feelings Charlie is going through after finalizing his divorce with Nicole.
5. The argument scene between Charlie and Nicole was treated carefully and respectfully.
After a tense moment in thecourtroom, Nicole visits Charlie's apartment to discuss their divorce terms without their lawyers present. The scene starts out calm as they sit and begin their conversation;butthe tension increases as Nicole accuses Charlie of being selfish for not understanding why LAis so important to her.
As they begin to shout at each other, Charlie ends up yelling that if he could guarantee Henry's safety, he would want Nicole to die from a sickness or from an accident. These words spill from his mouth and he begins to breakdown from the emotion and regret, falling to the floor. Nicole comforts him as he apologizes and she tells him that she's sorry, too.
A scene so powerful and emotional, like this one, may seem difficult to shoot; however, Driver said "it was not as hard as you would imagine."
The scene was shot from start to end, on repeat, for two days with one camera, Driver said.
“Noah gives you a lot of opportunities to kind of final it, and because it’s very hard, …we’re surrounded by so much focus and detail that you don’t need to go inside yourself to find any answers,” Driver said. “Youcan look at a detail where you’re looking at Scarlett’s face through a picture of your son and suddenly, the line takes on a new meaning."
Driver then compared the way the scene was shot tothat of filming a sex scene, mentioning that "everyone triesto give you respect in the room." He then expressed that the scene felt "very naked" but the focus and generosity of the film crew helped make it easier to film.
"Marriage Story"has been lauded by criticsas an accurate portrayal of the intense and emotional journey divorce can inflicton a family.
"It’s this adventure that Charlie and Nicole go on, it’s almost this journey that they’re taking … through this world, and their innocence is lost in this kind of sense,” Baumbach said.
"Marriage Story" is currently available to stream on Netflix.