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Tuesday, January 21, 2020

CHARACTER OR CARICATURE? LAURA DERN - MARRIAGE STORY

I discussed creating the character previously in a blog post titled Artistic Interpretation or Mimicry (7/2/16), and it seems to me that it's related to  creating a character about whom, because of their idiosyncrasies, we recognize as humorous, and understanding that in order to avoid the trap of indicated acting (showing the character) which leads to caricature, the actor must seriously "participate in the actions of the character," (Uta Hagen).  It's possible that Laura Dern was directed by Noah Baumbach to portray the divorce attorney in a caricatured style; if so, a serious error, in my opinion.  Consider the performances of the three actors who portrayed divorce attorneys in Marriage Story.  Caricature prevents us from finding the character funny, whereas, when the actor steps into the shoes of the character, thinks the thoughts of the character, and is deadly serious about the character's actions, that's when we find them funny.

 

 Were they thinking of Lisa Bloom?  Lisa Bloom takes herself very seriously.
  
Ray Liotta and Alan Alda performed correctly. Caricature distances us from the actions of the character, whereas idiosyncrasy of character draws us into the actions of the character.

In the scene above, if Laura Dern had portrayed her character as sincerely as Alan Alda portrayed his, the irony, the heartbreak, would have been much more profound.  I think that Noah Baumbach is an excellent screenwriter who creates the syntax of film beautifully; what he is unfamiliar with is the task of the actor, and it shows up in his films.  There are excellent performances alongside drastic errors -- I don't think it's a roll of the dice -- I think it's ignorance of technique.