The Squid and The Whale

It’s my day off so I’ve been taking it easy. I slept til one and then got up and made pancakes. While I ate my pancakes I watched The Squid and The Whale. I’d wanted to see it ever since Maria told me about it last Spring, and it finally worked it’s way to the top of my netflix queue. For those of you who haven’t seen it or aren’t familiar with the film at all, it’s about a family, in the eighties, in which the parents get divorced. It deals with the effects on the parents themselves, but the real focus is the effects on the children.

I really enjoyed it. I was pretty much appalled by Bernard (the father) in general. In fact, I was pretty much appalled by half the action in the movie. But in a way that made for a film one could still enjoy. I mean these kids get pretty fucked up by the whole thing, but there’s a lot of truth in that, so even as you’re basically disgusted by their actions, you’re really feeling for them. The situation is just awful, and that manifests in their behaviors. And as an observer you can see that their actions are fueled by their emotional distress. Basically, their lives such badly enough that you just feel bad for them.

It also has a really great ending. Beautiful and non-committal in the best possible way. So if you have patience for movies that aren’t super Hollywood then I would definitely see it if I were you.