OF THE JOYS OF BECOMING AN ADULT : ``FRANCES HA``

Here`s another one of the big indie films I missed. And another confession – I almost didn`t finish this. Almost. This confession will no doubt surprise people who have known me, or read my blog for a while. I am literally anal about finishing a film I have started. The problem, I am mature enough to confess both to myself and to you, was not the film. The problem was that the film struck very, very close to home. And this is what makes it such a good film in a way. Noah Baunbach and his partner Greta Gerwig present us with a painfully realistic slice of life. Carving out your own destiny in life is really, really not as easy as films and stories would like is to believe…  Films and stories other than Frances Ha that is.

Frances is a dancer. Well, she`s trying to be one. Ok, ok she`s an understudy. But she`ll make it onto the company proper like, really soon. She`s an unconventional girl – but then again who needs conventions? She has her best friend and flat mate Sophie and she really loves her job but… Life goes on and Frances seems to be stuck. And when Sophie takes the ultimate `` next step`` and moves to Japan with her boyfriend Frances is left to face life alone. The fact that Frances can`t afford the rent and has to find a new place is one thing. The fact that she may actually lose her position as an understudy altogether is another thing all together. With everything seemingly crumbling around her, will Frances find a way to make her dreams and plans a reality?

A lot of reviews I have read paint Frances Ha in a slightly ambiguous light. There are several different ways to interpret any film and this one is no exception, but for me Frances Ha is without a single shadow of a doubt, about how complicated `learning to be a proper adult` can be. The film is riddled, from beginning to end, with all the little frustrations real life brings. Frances is a `love her or loathe her` type character with her seemingly incurable awkwardness. There is a lot of caricaturing going on there of course but if she does frustrate you, bear in mind it may be because she strikes closer to home than you might think. The older we grow, the less we like to admit it but we are all awkward sometimes - and some of us more so than others.  Oh come on, you know what I mean. You, like me, were sure that by a certain age (25, 30, whatever your personal concept of `adult` is) you would have `it all` figured out. Yet while for some of us life just slotted into place in a series of seemingly smooth moves, the rest of us were left wondering about, wandering where the starting point was. If you have ever felt stuck in the pit stop as the other `drivers` complete lap after lap in the race of life, this film is about you. Ok, ok us.

But don`t go thinking that this is some dark and gloomy tale of angst. Oh no, Frances is eternally positive, she makes a good go of every situation and, as often is the case in real life, even in the most bizarre or seemingly impossible situations, yes, things work out. The name of the film, Frances Ha , comes from a small, understated scene at the end of the film. Frances` full name is Frances Hadley, but when she finally finds her own flat, the space in the doorbell is not large enough for her full name so she has to put `Frances Ha`. If I were pushed to read some kind of deep meaning into this it is that, even at the  moments we seem to have well and truly `arrived` somewhere in life, we need to remember that we are all works in progress. Everything changes. Even the most `set in stone` scenarios. But is this such a bad thing? When things are bad, we can remind ourselves that like almost everything in life, this too will pass. So what of the good things? Even if some good things in our life end, is starting a new adventure such a bad thing?

Like life, Baumbach`s Frances Ha is, as a film, neither optimistic, nor pessimistic. It is an honest, warts and all, no holds barred story of one woman trying to find herself in life. And like life, what you make of it depends, to a large extent, on you. I have to admit, I rather liked it.