At last a movie I'm looking forward to seeing: Noah Baumbach's "White Noise."
Although I consider the comic novel one of Don DeLillo's lesser works, I expect it to translate well to film, especially in Baumbach's hands.
Beginning with "The Squid and the Whale" and continuing through "Marriage Story," Baumbach has fused visual imagery and character-defining dialogue for a distinctive narrative style. An ethereal light illuminates the darkest emotional moments.
The movie stars actors whose work I've admired in a number of films: Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig and Don Cheadle. I''ve especially come to enjoy the performances of Gerwig since her days in independent films. Driver has become for me the modern version of William Holden, perhaps my favorite Old Hollywood star.
DeLillo's book about a middle-aged professor who started the Department of Hitler Studies at a small college and whose blended family is threatened by a "toxic event" was for years considered un-filmable, largely because of DeLillo's cryptic, satiric dialogue.
Many of the pop cultural references are already dated. But Baumbauch has apparently employed much of DeLillo's speech in the film's script.
"White Noise" with its dread over environmental disaster has gained greater relevance as climate change worsens. I'm hoping Baumbach has turned the book into a cinematic classic.
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