WHITE NOISE
The first thing I learned about WHITE NOISE (trailer here), written and directed by Noah Baumbach, is that it is exceedingly ambitious. After all, the Netflix film is adapted from Don DeLillo’s so-called “unfilmable” 1985 novel of the same name—a book widely considered a cornerstone example of postmodern literature. Almost four decades later, Baumbach delivered a rather faithful interpretation of the book onto screen, together with frequent collaborators Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig. In all honesty, the film isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea (or: the girls that get it, get it), but in my opinion this is a well-conceived film that is at once clarifying and disorienting, darkly comedic and quirkily witty, satirical and relevant.
The story is set in 1984 and follows Jack Gladney (Adam Driver), a renowned professor and the head of the Hitler studies department. He lives an upper-middle-class life with his wife Babette Gladney (Greta Gerwig) and their four children, mostly from their previous marriages. Their seemingly peaceful and untouchable life is interrupted when an accident at the edge of the town causes an “Airborne Toxic Event,” forcing the family to evacuate. All the while, with the help of their anxiety-filled teenage daughter Denise, Jack starts to suspect that Babette is taking a mysterious medication in secret. The film clearly makes aesthetic choices, including busy, lyrical and intentionally rehearsed-sounding dialogue; colorful and beautifully-structured cinematography; and a final sequence that you could never expect. In a not-so-straightforward way, the story touches on a broad range of themes including death, American consumerism, technology as a distraction and more. Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig and Don Cheadle (who plays Adam’s colleague) all deliver incredible performances. In the end, it’s a film that depicts a lot and yet leaves a ton of room for the audience to ruminate. Much like the book.
—Mimi Li, Development Coordinator
